Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday criticised the international community for what he called an insufficient response to Russia’s escalating bombardment of Ukrainian civilian areas, as fresh overnight strikes killed at least two people and wounded seven, says AP.
Russia has waged its heaviest sustained bombardment of Kyiv since the invasion began more than four years ago, launching a week of nighttime and daylight attacks on the capital at the end of last month. Ukrainian officials say the missile and drone strikes, which have continued into September, are aimed at breaking civilian morale.
International sanctions and diplomatic efforts to isolate Moscow have failed to halt the war, and Zelenskyy called on countries to intensify pressure on Russia.
“Unfortunately, there has been too little response from the international community to these strikes, which are taking people’s lives practically every day,” he wrote on social media. “But a response is needed — Moscow must not go into the winter believing that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences.”
The United Nations said last month that Russian aerial attacks killed or wounded more Ukrainian civilians in July than in any month since March 2022, with 437 people killed and more than 2,600 wounded. In total, more than 16,800 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and over 51,000 wounded since Russia’s invasion began, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
Overnight into Wednesday, Russia fired ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones at six Ukrainian regions, Ukrainian officials said. Four of the seven wounded were struck in a 22-storey residential building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, where a drone damaged the 11th floor and set the 12th floor ablaze, according to the State Emergency Service.
Olha Smal, 62, who lives on the building’s 12th floor, told The Associated Press the blast threw her across her kitchen, one of her bedrooms caught fire and smoke filled her apartment. Her pregnant neighbour was among the wounded. “You live one day at a time. You don’t know what will happen to you tomorrow, or even what will happen today,” she said. “It’s very, very hard.”
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had hit a drone factory warehouse in Kyiv, as well as logistics facilities and fuel reservoirs in the southern port city of Mykolaiv and an electric substation there.
It also said it struck a ship carrying military cargo bound for Odesa and logistics facilities at Ukraine’s Starokozache border crossing with Moldova. Ukrainian authorities said two people were killed in the border crossing strike.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is answering Russia’s attacks with daily long-range strikes on infrastructure deep inside Russian territory. He said Ukrainian forces had struck Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port in Russia’s Krasnodar region, hitting a naval base including an oil-loading terminal, military port facilities and warships carrying cruise missiles.
The Novorossiysk base serves as a key hub for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, providing maintenance and logistical support to its vessels, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said four people, including a child, were killed and 29 others wounded in the drone attack on Novorossiysk. Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences had downed 596 Ukrainian drones between late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
