This morning missile attacks have returned throughout the Ukrainian nation after several weeks of relative calm away from the Donbass front. The main cities have been affected by the attacks, which left five dead in Lviv and one closer to Dnipro. In addition, a large part of the electricity supply in various cities was affected and the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant had to be disconnected again.
Russia launched a new massive rocket attack in 10 Ukrainian regions far from the war front in Donbass. For more than seven hours and at dawn, some cities like kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipro or Odesa They have suffered the ravages of several bombardments that have caused the death of at least six people and the partial cut off of the electricity supply in some of the cities.
In the last few weeks, the cities far away from the front had lived in relative calm, since the last bombardment of similar dimensions had been on February 16, but this attack has once again caused panic among the population.
President Volodimir Zelensky spoke again on the morning of March 9 to condemn what he considers to be a new attempt by Moscow to “intimidate the Ukrainians.” “The occupiers can only terrorize civilians. It is all they can do. But it will do them no good. They will not shirk their responsibility for everything they have done,” the president added.
Ukraine defends that these indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population are war crimes, although Moscow maintains that the missile attacks are directed towards “strategic points”. Since last October, Ukraine suffered a series of massive attacks that severely hit a large part of the country’s electrical and energy infrastructure, just at the time of the beginning of winter.
In the attack on March 9, the Ukrainian authorities reported that Russia launched a total of 81 missiles on Ukrainian territoryof which Kiev forces were only able to repel 34. Ukraine also confirmed that among the munitions launched were six ‘kinzhal’ hypersonic missiles, a weapon Russia is believed to possess only a few dozen, but which the Kremlin boasts of being “unstoppable” for NATO defense systems.
Five dead in Lviv and one in Kherson
The most serious attack occurred in a rural area of the Lviv region, where a house was completely destroyed by the explosion of one of these missiles. An incident would have killed the five members who lived in the house and that destroyed the surroundings. Lviv is more than 700 kilometers from the front, but it is an area regularly attacked by Russian fire.
The attacks killed another civilian in the central Dnipro region and three civilians were also reported killed by artillery in Kherson, although these deaths are yet to be confirmed.
In the capital, kyiv, residents were awakened by explosions. Liudmyla, 58, told the Reuters news agency, present in the area, how she heard “a very strong, very strong explosion. We quickly jumped out of bed and saw a car on fire. Then the other cars also burned. The balcony and window panes were shattered.
Liudmyla recounted her testimony with her grandson in her arms. “He is very scary. Very scary. The boy got scared and jumped out of bed,” he said. “How can they do this? How is it possible? They are not human, I don’t know what to call them. They are scaring children, their mental state will be disturbed.”
The mayor of Kiev confirmed that at dawn of the day, approximately 40% of its citizens were without electricity or hot water in their homes due to attacks on electricity supply points. Reports similar to those given by the governors of Odessa and Kharkiv, who stated that the electricity supply in their cities was temporarily suspended and the attacks had also affected residential areas.
The threat of disaster returns over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant
The attacks also caused the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, currently under Russian control, to be without supply and forced to resort to diesel tanks to continue cooling its reactor.
It is the sixth time that the largest nuclear power plant in Europe has suffered a blackout since it was taken over by Russia months ago, which forces it to depend on diesel generators that can run the plant for 10 days. Nuclear power plants need constant power to run cooling systems and prevent a meltdown, and fears persist over the possibility of a catastrophe in Zaporizhzhya.
The Russian authorities present at the plant deny any possibility of a nuclear disaster despite the blackouts, since, they say, “everything is going on absolutely normally.”
“The specialists at the plant work very professionally, the automation has been put into operation,” Renat Karchaa, adviser to the general director of Russia’s state-owned energy company Rosenergoatom, reported on the state-run Rossiya 24 television channel.
However, the director of the UN nuclear watchdog expressed his alarm at the latest blackout and stated that with these attacks “a lucky dice is being thrown. Nothing has happened so far, but in the future it may happen “.
A few attacks amid concern for Bakhmut
These attacks come at a time when the war seems to have been stalemate on the Donbass front for months. Some points, such as Bakhmut, have become battles with innumerable casualties for both sides, but hardly representing progress in the fight.
US intelligence services do not believe Russia can make major territorial gains in Ukraine this year due to heavy casualties, its inability to replenish its arms and ammunition stockpiles, and a lack of leadership and morale, Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, told a US Senate committee Wednesday.
However, to date, any type of negotiation seems distant, since Ukraine is not willing to cede even one meter of its territory either. This same week, Kiev announced the dispatch of more troops to the city of Bakhmut, a point that, although not strategically vital, has become a focus of resistance of moral and propaganda importance for Ukraine.
With AP and Reuters
