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Ukrainian forces reported that Russia launched a destructive missile attack on several regions, forcing emergency power cuts in at least six areas. President Volodímir Zelenski denounced that these attacks represent a new challenge for NATO, since the missiles would have crossed the airspace of Moldova and Romania. The first confirmed the version, the second, a member of NATO, denied it. For its part, Russia claimed to have seized control of a small Ukrainian town in Kharkiv after the onslaught.
At the end of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky’s tour of several European countries, Russia launched on February 10 the largest missile attack against Ukraine since the invasion began almost a year ago.
According to Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, Russian troops fired a “record number” of S-300-type missiles early Friday into as many as 35 regions, including Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Khmelnitsky, and even Kiev.
Ihnat said that the Russians use “these weapons to terrorize” since the attacks were deliberate and focused on highly populated cities.
The spokesman warned that the Russian Army is managing to launch this type of missile further and that “targets are being hit arbitrarily.”
Ihnat stressed that the Ukrainian forces defend themselves daily with their HARM anti-aircraft missile systems, but that they are not enough, for which he stressed the need to receive more weapons.
Zelensky: attacks are a “challenge” for NATO
President Zelenski referred to these latest attacks and denounced that the targets would have been civilians and their infrastructure.
The president assured that several of the missiles passed through the airspace of Moldova and Romania, for which he stressed that this would mean a collective security challenge for the NATO allies.
However, the Romanian Ministry of Defense ruled out that the projectile had entered its airspace. Moldova, which is not a member of NATO, confirmed the incursion of a Russian missile that would have passed through Mokra, Transnistria region.
“This is a terror that can and must be stopped. The world must stop it,” President Zelensky added in a video message that was recorded after he returned to Ukraine after completing his European tour, which took him to the United Kingdom, France and ended with the European Union Summit in Belgium.
This was Zelensky’s second international trip after completing almost a year since the start of the war. In December he visited Joe Biden in Washington and made a brief stop in neighboring Poland.
During these official visits, Zelenski has asked for military and economic support from his allies, the increase in sanctions against Russia and the consolidation of the bloc against the actions carried out by President Vladimir Putin.
Russian attacks leave Ukraine in the dark
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy reported in a statement that the Russian missile attacks forced the Ukrainian authorities to carry out emergency power cuts in several regions of the country.
As indicated by the Minister of Energy, Herman Galushchenko, the attacks damaged infrastructure that generates heating energy, as well as high-voltage installations in at least six regions.
The official added that the workers of the electrical network are “working tirelessly” to reconnect the network as quickly as possible and not cause further damage, taking into account the low temperatures registered in these regions.
After the attacks, Russia announces a new conquest
The Russian Defense Ministry assured that its forces took the town of Dvorichna, in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, as a result of the latest attacks.
This is the first time in the last three months that Russian forces have announced the seizure of new territories in the Kharkiv region.
Kharkiv is one of the main targets declared by the Kremlin along with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, where attacks have intensified in recent days.
Dvorichna is a small town located in the east of Kharkiv near the border with Russia and that before the start of the fighting had about 300 inhabitants.
With EFE and local media
