A day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an urgent plea to the West to provide air defense systems, Russian missiles targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine, cutting off a portion of the city's electricity supply.
Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, reported on Friday morning that 15 explosions had been heard, and that the missiles had disabled the city's water pumps and partially blacked out the city. No casualties were reported right away.
In the northeast of Ukraine, Kharkiv is only 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border. Since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the city has frequently been bombarded.
According to Ukrainian officials, Russian missiles reportedly damaged a "critical infrastructure object" in Vinnytsia, a city in central Ukraine, and also struck Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih.
The largest dam in Ukraine, the DniproHES in Zaporizhzhia in the south, was struck by a Russian strike, according to the state hydropower corporation of Ukraine on Friday. However, there was no fear of a breach.
"The station is presently experiencing a fire. As a result of multiple airstrikes, emergency services and electricity workers are responding immediately, according to the company.
The Zaporizhzhia government stated that there had been eight missile strikes in the city and that some citizens had been hurt.
The bombings come just a day after Russia launched its biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks, targeting Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin had threatened to exact revenge for attacks and incursions into Russia's border areas.
A Ukrainian attack on Friday resulted in one woman's death and multiple injuries in Belgorod, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, eight rockets fired on Friday from Ukraine using vampire rocket launchers were shot down.
Days after Putin strengthened his tight hold on power by winning a second six-year term in presidential elections, EU leaders decided on Thursday to move forward with a proposal to use the proceeds from blocked Russian central bank assets to outgun Ukraine.
If approved in its entirety, the proposal—which is at the center of negotiations between the leaders of the bloc—could provide Ukraine access to about three billion euros ($3.3 billion) annually.
"I'm happy that decision-makers approved our plan to use the exceptional money from Russian assets that have been rendered immobile. This will enable Ukraine to purchase military hardware," Chief European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said to reporters.
Suggested:
Attacks follow largest raids on Kyiv in weeks, as Zelenskyy pleads with West for air defence systems.
