Air raid sirens rang across Ukraine as Russia unleashed over 100 missiles this morning, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser. Blasts were heard in several cities, including the capital Kyiv, reported news agency Reuters.
“A massive air raid. More than 100 missiles in several waves,” presidential office adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Odesa, reported Reuters and the local media. Power cuts were announced in the Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk regions to reduce the potential damage to the energy infrastructure.
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The blitz came on the heels of the Kremlin’s rejection of a Ukrainian peace plan. Moscow is insistent that Kyiv accept its annexation of four regions. Zelenskyy is vigorously pushing a 10-point peace plan that envisages Russia respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and pulling out its troops.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians. However, Ukraine said that the daily bombardment is destroying cities, towns, and the country’s infrastructure. On Wednesday, Russian shelling hit the maternity wing of a hospital in Kherson. The staff and the patients were moved to a shelter, an official said. Kherson, which was recently liberated, remains under constant bombardment from the Russians.
Zelenskyy, in a video address, urged Ukrainians to hug loved ones, tell friends they appreciate them, support colleagues, thank their parents and rejoice with their children more often. “We have not lost our humanity, although we have endured terrible months,” he said, adding, “And we will not lose it, although there is a difficult year ahead.”Russia has shelled over 25 settlements around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Wednesday. Heavy fighting continues around the Ukraine-held city of Bakhmut, in the eastern province of Donetsk, and to its north, around the cities of Svatove and Kreminna in Luhansk, where Ukrainian forces are trying to break through the Russian defensive lines.
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