Assaults comply with largest raids on Kyiv in weeks, as Zelenskyy pleads with West for air defence techniques.
Russian missiles have struck Ukraine’s Kharkiv, knocking out a part of the town’s energy provide a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an pressing attraction to the West to ship air defence techniques.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov mentioned on Friday morning that 15 blasts had been heard, with missiles inflicting partial blackouts and disabling the town’s water pumps. There have been no fast studies of casualties.
Kharkiv lies simply 30km (19 miles) from the border with Russia in Ukraine’s northeast and has come below frequent bombardment since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the nation in February 2022.
Ukrainian officers mentioned Russian missiles had additionally hit Kryvyi Rih, which is Zelenskyy’s hometown, and Vinnytsia, each in central Ukraine, damaging a “important infrastructure object” within the latter metropolis.
Ukraine’s state hydropower firm mentioned on Friday {that a} Russian strike hit Ukraine’s largest dam, the DniproHES in Zaporizhzhia within the south of the nation, however that there was no threat of a breach.
“There’s presently a hearth on the station. Emergency companies and vitality staff are engaged on the spot, coping with the implications of quite a few air strikes,” the utility mentioned.
The administration of Zaporizhzhia reported eight missile assaults within the metropolis and mentioned some residents had been wounded.
The assaults comply with carefully on the heels of Russia’s strikes on Kyiv yesterday, the biggest assault on the Ukrainian capital in weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised retribution for strikes and incursions into Russia’s border areas.
In Belgorod, a Russian area alongside the border with Ukraine, one lady was killed and several other others had been wounded in a Ukrainian assault on Friday, the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, mentioned. The Russian Ministry of Defence mentioned it had downed eight rockets fired on Belgorod on Friday from Ukraine with Vampire rocket launchers.
Following the assault on Ukraine’s capital, which Russia’s defence ministry mentioned had been delivered with long-range high-precision weapons, Zelenskyy known as on the West to ship air defence techniques.
Addressing the 27 leaders of the European Union through videolink, as they met in Brussels for a two-day summit, he advised them the shortfall in ammunition dealing with his troops was “humiliating” for Europe.
“Europe can present extra – and it’s essential to show it now,” he mentioned, additionally calling for added air defence techniques following the large strike on Kyiv.
Right now, I addressed the European Council outlining 5 essential parts to defend Ukraine and all of Europe from Russian aggression and terror:
1️⃣Air protection
2️⃣Artillery ammunition
3️⃣Europe’s protection self-sufficiency
4️⃣Europe’s political unity
5️⃣Frozen Russian belongingsA thread🧵 pic.twitter.com/SzmeCMeWwf
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 21, 2024
EU leaders on Thursday agreed to push forward with a plan to make use of the income from frozen Russian central financial institution belongings to arm outgunned Ukraine, days after Putin tightened his iron grip over his nation by successful a brand new six-year time period in presidential elections.
The proposal, on the coronary heart of talks between bloc leaders, might unlock some three billion euros ($3.3bn) a yr for Ukraine as soon as it’s given a ultimate inexperienced mild.
“I’m glad that leaders endorsed our proposal to make use of the extraordinary revenues from immobilised Russian belongings. It will present funding for army tools to Ukraine,” European Fee chief Ursula von der Leyen advised reporters.
The push by the EU to seek out extra funds for Ukraine comes as a $60bn assist package deal from america, Ukraine’s different fundamental backer, stays blocked in Congress.