kyiv, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine received no early warning from its partners about a Russian ballistic missile strike on kyiv in which five missiles hit civilian infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in an article on X.
Zelensky called the barrage on the capital “particularly despicable” and stressed that receiving intelligence from Ukraine’s partners about such ballistic missile attacks “helps save lives, and this is one of the most critical issues.”
“This is precisely what keeps people from being killed – when there is early warning about ballistic missiles,” he wrote. He did not assign blame for the lack of warning.
Russia war in Ukraine has not seen major changes on the ground since last year, but Ukraine has struggled to repel Moscow’s intensified air attacks on cities, including rapid air attacks. ballistic missiles and high flying jet drones.
Zelensky said Russia had attacked Ukraine with more than 100 weapons since Monday evening. Among the damage was a residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv that was destroyed, killing four people despite an all-night rescue operation, it said.
Russia increasingly resorts to attacks on civilian infrastructure like energy installations depriving Ukrainians of electricity, heat and running water during the four and a half years of war, hoping to deplete public support for Ukraine’s response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Zelensky says Ukraine respects energy ceasefire
US President Donald Trump has blamed previous Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries for record US diesel prices – rather than US-led strikes. war in Iran – And reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday to import diesel from Russia in an effort to lower fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed on an “energy ceasefire” in which both sides would refrain from hitting each other’s energy infrastructures. Russia has not confirmed the existence of such an agreement, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov only saying on Tuesday that “contacts on this issue continue.”
Zelensky said Tuesday that Ukraine had not struck Russian oil refineries or other energy sites in the two days since Trump announced the so-called deal. He criticized Moscow for what he said were Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and critical infrastructure since Trump’s announcement.
“These are absolutely clear signals that they have no intention of refraining from hitting Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
The claim that Ukraine has stopped strikes on energy sites could not be independently verified, but neither Russian officials nor the media have reported any Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries since the energy truce was announced.
Strikes on Kharkiv leave 4 dead and 41 injured
Russian strikes across Ukraine resulted in injuries and deaths overnight Monday, with Zelenskyy saying that in addition to the four deaths in the Kharkiv apartment building, 41 people were injured in the city in a single evening.
A woman was injured in a Russian strike on a private house in kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, the Kyiv city military administration said, while a Russian drone struck a residential building in the village of Murovane, near the western city of Lviv, in an early morning attack on Tuesday, Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi said.
One person was killed in the kyiv region’s Fastiv district and at least two others were injured in a Russian attack in the area, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.
A Russian drone struck an educational institution in central Rivne in northwestern Ukraine, injuring 14 people, according to Oleksandr Koval, head of the Rivne regional military administration.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that its forces “launched coordinated strikes overnight using ground-based precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, logistics centers, railway and port infrastructure, as well as ships involved in the delivery of military goods to Ukraine.”
The ministry also said a bulk carrier heading to the port of Mykolaiv with military cargo on board was struck in the Bug River estuary along the Black Sea.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that its air defenses shot down 604 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 417 drones had targeted the Moscow region. Most were shot down in the distance, while 65 were intercepted approaching the Russian capital.
A school, two private houses and a car were damaged in the attack in the Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, Governor Vladislav Shapsha said.
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Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary.
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Follow AP coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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