Friday, February 10, 2023 | 8:15 a.m.
Russia launched a “massive attack” on Friday with Iranian-made explosive missiles and drones, hitting several energy facilities in Ukraine, the Ukrainian army said, a day after President Volodimir Zelensky asked his European allies for more weapons in Brussels. .
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired “six Kalibr cruise missiles”, “up to 35 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles in the Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions”, and used “seven Shahed drones”. “The enemy attacked cities and basic infrastructure in Ukraine,” he said in a statement.
As reported by local media, “an air raid siren went off in kyiv at 08:27 local time and then this was repeated across the country in a few minutes.”
Serhii Popko, Head of the Military Administration of the City of kyiv, indicated that Russia has deployed several strategic bomber aircraft of the “Tu-95” type, which are capable of carrying cruise missiles.
The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, explained that ten explosions have been recorded so far and confirmed several power outages “in some areas.” “Emergency services are working at the explosion sites. The information on victims and scale of destruction is being analyzed, ”he added.
Russian troops increased their attacks on the Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, in the southeast of the country and where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located, now in the hands of Russia, which controls part of the area.
Explosions were heard in various parts of the region, including the city of Zaporizhzhia itself and Vinnytsia, while in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, local authorities warned of a drone attack.
Russian forces attacked the energy infrastructure of Zaporizhzhia during the early hours of Friday, hitting the city 17 times in one hour, reported the secretary of the City Council of that city, Anatolii Kurtiev, quoted by The Kyiv Independent.
According to Kurtiev, this is the largest number of attacks launched by Russia in Zaporizhzhia since the beginning of the war.
Serhii Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Military Administration, called on his Telegram account for residents of the region to refrain from approaching critical infrastructure objects and from publishing data on the aftermath of attacks and raid operations. air defense.
The Russians have increased their offensive on Ukraine in recent days, when there are less than two weeks to go until one year has elapsed since the start of the invasion that took place on February 24.
Although the heaviest fighting is taking place in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the east of the country, on the border with Russia, Moscow has also increased its attacks in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in the southwest.
The four regions were illegally annexed by Russia last September, after controversial referendums were called in the occupied areas that have not been internationally recognized and without the Russian Army having been able to date to control all the territory it considers its own.
The international community also showed its concern about the attacks that are taking place in Zaporizhzhia, where the nuclear power plant is now disconnected from the energy system.
The general director of the Russian atomic agency, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, met on Thursday with the top chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, to discuss the creation of a security zone around the Zaporizhzhia power plant. .
In a brief Telegram message, Rosatom reported on the conversations between the two and confirmed that “the central issue is the creation of a security zone at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”, occupied by Russian troops since last March, something about which an agreement has not yet been reached.
The authorities imposed by Russia in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk assured this Friday that they will take the town of Marinka, near the regional capital, under their control “soon”.
“I am not going to give any date yet, but (Marinka) will be released soon,” said the head of the Donetsk people’s republic, Denis Pushilin.
Pushilin, quoted by the TASS agency, added that the Ukrainian troops have built many fortifications in the town, about 25 kilometers from Donetsk, and now the Russian forces are “breaking through their defenses.”
“They (Ukrainians) use every opportunity to entrench themselves, but Marinka is breaking free, we already control her big part and she will be released soon,” he said.
Last December Pushilin already described the situation in Marinka as “difficult”, control of which is of great importance for the Russians due to its proximity to the capital of the Donetsk region.
