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Russian forces continue with bombardments and explosions in different parts of Ukraine, although the strongest focus is in the capital, where three people died. This is part of the new war phase that Moscow has embarked on, intimidating with remote missions while suffering losses in the field. The local administration detailed that a dozen drones were shot down, although the Russian Defense Ministry asserted that the objectives set were achieved.
The effects of the war reach the Ukrainian capital again after explosions caused by kamikaze drones – of alleged Iranian origin – were recorded, which left at least three people dead and as many wounded, as reported by Mayor Vitali Klitschkó.
As the mayor of the capital expressed on Telegram, the victims were left under the rubble after a drone hit a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi neighborhood. Other inhabitants of the site managed to be saved during the rescue efforts.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it led a “massive” attack with high-precision weapons against Ukrainian military targets and energy infrastructure. This is replicated after last week it launched the highest-level bombing against Ukrainian installations, including in kyiv.
Klitschkó added that a total of five explosions were felt in the capital on Monday, October 17, and that 18 people were rescued. While around 28 drones flew over the city, but “most of the flying terrorists were shot down” by the Armed Forces and the anti-aircraft defense.
The actions were strongly repudiated by Mikhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, who called via Twitter for the Russian Federation to be excluded from the G20 summit as punishment.
“Those who give orders to attack critical infrastructure to terrorize civilians and organize a total mobilization to cover the front with bodies, surely cannot sit at the same table with the leaders of the G20. The Russian Federation must be expelled,” he wrote.
Those who give orders to attack critical infrastructure to freeze civilians and organize total mobilization to cover the frontline with corpses, cannot sit at the same table with leaders of G20 for sure. Time to put an end to ru hypocrisy. RF must be expelled from all platforms.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) October 17, 2022
For his part, the chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, dismissed the idea that these remote responses from Russia could alleviate “the agony” he is suffering on the battlefield, although he anticipated that Ukraine needs “more anti-aircraft defenses as soon as possible.”
At the beginning of last week, Russia launched attacks on Ukrainian regions using kamikaze missiles and drones. kyiv was again one of the targets and the impacts caused the death of six citizens.
Energy and infrastructure, Russian objectives
The Ukrainian cities of Sumy and Mikolaiv were also hit in the wave of Russian bombardment. The Ukrainian Interior Minister, Denys Monastyrsky, reported that there were a higher number of civilian casualties throughout the territory, but did not delve into total figures.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described Ukrainian soil as being under enemy fire “all night and all morning” in order to “terrorize the civilian population.” “The enemy can attack our cities, but he will not be able to break us. He will receive a fair punishment and we will obtain victory,” said the president.
In Mikolaiv, remote aerial vehicles crashed into a sea terminal, damaging sunflower storage tanks and igniting leaking oil.
In addition, in Zaporizhia the events occurred near the nuclear plant and again caused the power grid to be disconnected, reported the state company Energoatom. Also in Dnipropetrovsk there were damages and power outages as a result of attacks on energy supports.
The Austrian Volker Turk, the new human rights chief of the United Nations Organization, urged that the attacks against civil infrastructure be stopped.
Moscow mounted a retaliation after accusing kyiv of carrying out a missile attack on Belgorod airport and on the bridge linking the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.
The Iranian role
According to an image published by Mayor Klitschkó on his Telegram account, the remains of a drone read ‘Guerán-2’. This is the Russian name given to the Iranian “unmanned devices” ‘Shahed-136’.
From Ukraine they assert that the kamikaze drones that are being used by the Kremlin to carry out their attacks are of Iranian manufacture, something that the authorities of the Islamic Republic flatly rejected.
“The news published about Iran providing drones to Russia has political ambitions and is distributed by Western sources. We have not provided weapons to any side of the warring countries,” said Iranian foreign spokesman Nasser Kanaani.
Despite this, some foreign ministers of the European Union requested that new sanctions be drawn up against Tehran in the event that it is proven that it was involved in the Russian military operation.
With EFE and Reuters
