Ukrainian officials accuse Russia of firing missiles against key infrastructure in kyiv and other parts of Ukraine this Saturday, January 14, while uncertainty remains over the fate of Soledar (eastern Ukraine). ) which Moscow claims to have taken control of after a fierce battle.
Several explosions sounded in the morning in kyiv, AFP journalists found, with Ukrainian officials saying strikes had targeted key infrastructure in the capital.
“A missile attack on critical infrastructure” is underway in Kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram while the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Dniprovskiy district, calling on residents to “stay in the shelters”. Fragments of a missile fell in the Golosiivsky district, without causing any injuries, Vitali Klitschko said.
Attacks in Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions
In the Kharkiv region, “the enemy has launched a new missile attack on critical infrastructure”, Governor Oleg Synegibov said. Emergency power cuts could have in this city, the second in Ukraine, he added.
Attacks have also been reported further south, in the Zaporizhia region.
Moscow Diary: “Why do the Russian priests remain silent? »
“The enemy is again attacking the territory of Ukraine”also said the head of the Cherkasy region, Igor Taburets, adding to expect large-scale alerts in the middle of the day.
Since October and a series of setbacks in Ukraine, Moscow has been methodically bombarding the country’s vital infrastructure, forcing electricity companies to restore the network as quickly as possible as the winter gets harsher.
“A difficult phase of the war”
On the front line, fighting for Soledar “continue”, said Friday evening the Ukrainian staff, without giving more details. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the “liberation” of this town had taken place “January 12 in the evening”. The Russian army hailed the “courageous actions” fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, whose men led “the direct assault on the residential areas of Soledar”.
The spokesman for the Eastern command of the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, had affirmed in the day that his troops kept the situation “under control in difficult conditions” face “to the best units of Wagner and other special forces” Russians.
War in Ukraine: why is the Battle of Soledar so “bloody”?
“It’s a difficult phase of the war”had for her part underlined the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, Ganna Maliar, acknowledging “a high-intensity (Russian) offensive”.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based body, the capture of Soledar, a small town of around 10,000 before the conflict, is however “unlikely to predict imminent encirclement of Bakhmout”the main target of the Russian army, located 15 kilometers southwest of Soledar.
Fighting in and around Soledar has been raging for several months, but its intensity has increased sharply in recent days.
Requests for weapons from Western allies
To deal with the Russian army, kyiv on Friday again called on its Western allies to provide it with more weapons and high-performance military equipment, such as heavy tanks and long-range missiles.
Delivery of tanks to Ukraine: the (more or less disinterested) reasons for Macron’s reversal
The UN Security Council for its part met again on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Friday, nearly eleven months after the start of the Russian invasion.
