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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A Russian artillery attack targeted Kyiv on Wednesday, wounding at least 53 people, officials said, as the Ukrainian president sought more military support in Europe after a The trip to Washington brought no new promises.
Loud the walls shook the capital of Ukraine at 3 a.m. as the city’s air defenses were activated for the second time this week. Ukrainian officials said Russia launched 10 ballistic missiles toward Kyiv and all were intercepted by air defenses, but their debris hit buildings and a children’s hospital.
The attack underscored the continuing threat to Ukraine from the Kremlin’s missile arsenal in the 21 months old. Russia is stockpiling its spare missiles from its heavy bombers, according to a recent assessment by the UK Ministry of Defence.
It might indicate something else serious winter attack of Ukraine’s power line. Moscow last year resorted to force in an attempt to deny Ukrainians heat, electricity and running water and break their fighting spirit.
As winter approaches and restricts troop movement, allowing for little change in the front line, the role of standing also increases. from the distant air.
Ukraine has reduced supplies of air weapons and other weapons. That’s why Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visit Washington on Tuesday in an effort to persuade lawmakers to accept President Joe Biden’s request for $61.4 billion for Ukraine. His journey was not successful.
Zelenskyy said on Telegram that he and Biden agreed to work on increasing the number of air defense units in Ukraine. “The terrorist state has just shown the importance of this decision,” said Zelenskyy, referring to the attacks at night.
On Wednesday, he met in Oslo with Nordic leaders who feel threatened by neighboring Russia and who have Kyiv’s strong support.
Zelenskyy can also participate a meeting of the European Union on Thursday in Brussels, where the leaders of the continent should discuss their support for Ukraine. Officials have not confirmed such a trip.
“Russia is willing to exploit divisions,” said senior leaders from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden in a joint statement in Oslo. “We must continue to stand together against Russia’s illegal and immoral war.”
They pledged “full support” for Ukraine. “This is not the time to be weak,” the Nordic leaders said, amid signs of battle fatigue among Kiev’s foreign supporters.
Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, said her government will open a nearly 1 billion euro ($1.08 billion) aid package to Ukraine this week. Norway announced that it will provide additional air defenses to Ukraine, taking them from its own stocks to ensure a quick delivery.
Separately, Latvia and Ukraine announced an agreement on the production of drones, an important part the battle.
During the nighttime artillery attack, debris from the intercepted weapons fell on the eastern part of Kyiv Dniprovskyi, injuring many people, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Kitschko on Telegram. 20 people, including two children, were hospitalized, and 33 people received medical treatment at the same time.
An apartment building, a private house and several cars were burned, while the windows of a children’s hospital were broken, said Klitschko. Falling rocket debris also contaminated water in the district.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, 10 Russian drones were shot down, most of them in the Odesa region, Ukrainian officials said.
In other developments, a “hacktivist” group called SoIntsepek claimed responsibility for a massive cyber attack on Tuesday against the Ukrainian internet and mobile operator Kyivstar, which over 24 million mobile customers in the country.
Google’s US cybersecurity firm, Mandiant, said that SoIntsepek often claimed credit for the operation of the Russian hacking group known as Sandworm, part of the GRU military intelligence agency.
“The person may have been created by the GRU to clean up their public activities,” Mandiant threat researcher John Hultquist said in an emailed statement, adding that Sandworm is responsible for “many of the terrorist attacks we have you know.”
Kyivstar’s spokesperson said the company expected to restore all services by the end of Wednesday while the reliable network company Kentik Inc. said it was only partially repaired in the afternoon.
Currently, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a report that the Russians this year have “continued to use barbaric weapons and wide area effects in their attacks on large population centers in urban areas of Ukraine … not only in places near major battles and in towns far from the line of communication.”
The government organization added in the report published on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army, although on a smaller scale, also attacked parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia, causing the destruction of civilians and the destruction of public infrastructure.
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Associated Press reporters Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, and Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.
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