Russian forces have unleashed a barrage of missiles on various regions across Ukraine during the early hours of Tuesday morning, resulting in civilian casualties and significant damage to civilian infrastructure.
This missile onslaught occurred just prior to a security conference near Moscow, where top Russian military officials, along with counterparts from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, had convened. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions at this conference. Notably, Russia’s involvement in the conflict has now extended to nearly 18 months.
The Ukrainian Air Force has reported that a total of 28 cruise missiles were launched by Russia, with 16 of them being successfully intercepted.
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Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser, condemned these deliberate attacks on civilians as a means of inflicting harm and psychological pressure. He characterized the missile barrage as a clear manifestation of Russia’s documented “terrorist activity,” resulting in numerous instances of destruction and loss of life.
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In the western Lviv region, six out of seven Russian-launched missiles struck, resulting in 15 injuries and damage to 40 buildings and houses, including in the city of Lviv. The power grid was also compromised in this region, which shares a border with Poland.
In the neighboring Volyn region, a Russian missile strike claimed the lives of three individuals and injured three others. In the Dnipropetrovsk region to the southeast, two people sustained injuries, while in the nearby Ivano-Frankivsk region, missile debris impacted a private residence.
The city of Smila in the central Cherkasy region suffered water access disruption due to the attacks, which also damaged a medical facility, water supply, and heat networks.
Further damage was inflicted on educational and residential facilities, such as a school stadium and a kindergarten in the front-line Zaporizhzhia region. In Kramatorsk, a city within the front-line Donetsk region, a grocery warehouse was hit, resulting in casualties.
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This extensive barrage across the entire country followed a previous day’s assault on the non-frontline region of Odesa in Ukraine’s southwest. The Kremlin’s forces targeted vital grain transport facilities and historic sites in Odesa, a move that followed Russia’s decision to terminate a significant agreement allowing grain exports from Ukraine to Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
At the security conference outside Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a pre-recorded statement, once again accused Western powers of exacerbating the conflict through financial and military support to Kyiv, aiming to escalate the situation and involve other nations. Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, countered by stating that despite this support, Ukrainian forces have struggled to achieve battlefield success.
