Kyiv: it rained missiles Ukraine Several civilians were killed and dozens injured in built-up areas as the weekend began, prompting the president Volodymyr Zelensky To accuse Russia of state “terror”.
21 people were killed and dozens injured in an attack on a southern resort town after missiles hit flats and a recreation center in Sergivka, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Black Sea port Odessa.
A neighbor told AFP on Saturday that rockets attacked residential properties in Solvinsk, in the heart of the neighboring Donbas region, killing a woman in her garden and injuring her husband.
Eyewitnesses said Friday’s strike was thought to use cluster weapons that had spread over a large area before the explosion, attacking buildings and people outside.
The attacks came after Moscow abandoned positions on a strategic island in a major setback for the Kremlin’s invasion.
In his daily address to the nation, Zelensky said a 12-year-old boy was among the victims of the Sergievka attacks, adding that some 40 people were injured and the death toll could rise.
“I emphasize: this is a deliberate, purposeful act of Russian terror – and not some sort of mistake or accidental missile attack,” Zelensky said.
“Three missiles hit a regular nine-story apartment building, which was hiding no weapons, no military equipment,” he said. “Regular people, citizens, lived there.”
‘Cruel Ways’
Germany swiftly condemned the violence.
German government spokesman Stefan Hebstreit said: “The brutal manner in which the Russian attacker extorts civilian casualties and again speaks of collateral damage is inhumane and blasphemous.”
The attacks follow global outrage earlier this week when Russia’s attack destroyed a shopping center in central Ukraine’s Kremenchuk, killing at least 18 civilians.
President Vladimir Putin has denied that its military was responsible for that attack and Moscow did not immediately comment on the Odessa attacks.
On Friday, Zelensky began a new chapter in his relationship with the European Union after Brussels recently granted Ukraine candidate status KyivPressure to join the 27-member bloc, even if membership is years away.
“Our journey to membership should not take decades. We must bring it down quickly,” Zelensky told Ukraine’s parliament.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der LeyenAddressing Ukrainian lawmakers by video link, membership was “within reach”, but urged them to work on anti-corruption reforms.
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union, on Friday announced $1 billion in aid for Kyiv, including reconstruction and weapons.
And the Pentagon said it is sending a new $820 million armament package, which includes two air defense systems and more ammunition for the Hymer precision rocket launcher, which the United States began supplying last month.
– Soup Spat – In a decision that further cooled relations between Kyiv and Moscow, the UN cultural agency inscribed Ukraine’s borscht soup cooking on its list of endangered cultural heritage.
Ukraine regards the nutritious soup, usually made with beetroot, as a national dish, although it is also widely consumed in Russia, other ex-Soviet countries, and Poland.
UNESCO said the decision was approved after a fast-track process inspired by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We will win both in Borsch and in this war,” Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said on Telegram.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Hummus and pilaf are recognized as national dishes of many countries. Everything is subject to Ukrainianization.”
-phosphorus bomb
On Thursday, Russian troops abandoned their position on Snake Island, which had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the first days of the war, and severed shipping lanes near the port of Odessa.
The Russian Defense Ministry described the retreat as “a gesture of goodwill”, which meant that Moscow would not interfere with UN efforts to organize protected grain exports from Ukraine.
But on Friday evening, Kyiv accused Moscow of using incendiary phosphorus weapons to attack the rocky outpost, saying the Russians are “incapable of even honoring their own declarations”.
In peacetime, Ukraine is a major agricultural exporter, but Russia’s invasion has damaged agricultural lands and seen Ukraine’s ports confiscated, demolished or blocked – especially concerns about food shortages in poorer countries.
Western powers have accused Putin of using the cropped crop as a weapon to increase pressure on the international community, and Russia has been accused of stealing grain.
Ukraine on Friday asked Turkey to detain a Russian-flagged cargo ship, which Kyiv alleged had sailed from the Kremlin-held port of Bardyansk.
While heavy fighting continued in eastern Ukraine, officials said schools in the Ukrainian capital would reopen for in-person classes on September 1 at the start of the school year for the first time since lessons went online after the invasion began.
The head of Kyiv’s Department of Education and Science, Olena Fidayan, said the land around the schools would be tested for explosives and that school bomb shelters would be restored with essential items.
21 people were killed and dozens injured in an attack on a southern resort town after missiles hit flats and a recreation center in Sergivka, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Black Sea port Odessa.
A neighbor told AFP on Saturday that rockets attacked residential properties in Solvinsk, in the heart of the neighboring Donbas region, killing a woman in her garden and injuring her husband.
Eyewitnesses said Friday’s strike was thought to use cluster weapons that had spread over a large area before the explosion, attacking buildings and people outside.
The attacks came after Moscow abandoned positions on a strategic island in a major setback for the Kremlin’s invasion.
In his daily address to the nation, Zelensky said a 12-year-old boy was among the victims of the Sergievka attacks, adding that some 40 people were injured and the death toll could rise.
“I emphasize: this is a deliberate, purposeful act of Russian terror – and not some sort of mistake or accidental missile attack,” Zelensky said.
“Three missiles hit a regular nine-story apartment building, which was hiding no weapons, no military equipment,” he said. “Regular people, citizens, lived there.”
‘Cruel Ways’
Germany swiftly condemned the violence.
German government spokesman Stefan Hebstreit said: “The brutal manner in which the Russian attacker extorts civilian casualties and again speaks of collateral damage is inhumane and blasphemous.”
The attacks follow global outrage earlier this week when Russia’s attack destroyed a shopping center in central Ukraine’s Kremenchuk, killing at least 18 civilians.
President Vladimir Putin has denied that its military was responsible for that attack and Moscow did not immediately comment on the Odessa attacks.
On Friday, Zelensky began a new chapter in his relationship with the European Union after Brussels recently granted Ukraine candidate status KyivPressure to join the 27-member bloc, even if membership is years away.
“Our journey to membership should not take decades. We must bring it down quickly,” Zelensky told Ukraine’s parliament.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der LeyenAddressing Ukrainian lawmakers by video link, membership was “within reach”, but urged them to work on anti-corruption reforms.
Norway, which is not a member of the European Union, on Friday announced $1 billion in aid for Kyiv, including reconstruction and weapons.
And the Pentagon said it is sending a new $820 million armament package, which includes two air defense systems and more ammunition for the Hymer precision rocket launcher, which the United States began supplying last month.
– Soup Spat – In a decision that further cooled relations between Kyiv and Moscow, the UN cultural agency inscribed Ukraine’s borscht soup cooking on its list of endangered cultural heritage.
Ukraine regards the nutritious soup, usually made with beetroot, as a national dish, although it is also widely consumed in Russia, other ex-Soviet countries, and Poland.
UNESCO said the decision was approved after a fast-track process inspired by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We will win both in Borsch and in this war,” Ukraine’s Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said on Telegram.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Hummus and pilaf are recognized as national dishes of many countries. Everything is subject to Ukrainianization.”
-phosphorus bomb
On Thursday, Russian troops abandoned their position on Snake Island, which had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the first days of the war, and severed shipping lanes near the port of Odessa.
The Russian Defense Ministry described the retreat as “a gesture of goodwill”, which meant that Moscow would not interfere with UN efforts to organize protected grain exports from Ukraine.
But on Friday evening, Kyiv accused Moscow of using incendiary phosphorus weapons to attack the rocky outpost, saying the Russians are “incapable of even honoring their own declarations”.
In peacetime, Ukraine is a major agricultural exporter, but Russia’s invasion has damaged agricultural lands and seen Ukraine’s ports confiscated, demolished or blocked – especially concerns about food shortages in poorer countries.
Western powers have accused Putin of using the cropped crop as a weapon to increase pressure on the international community, and Russia has been accused of stealing grain.
Ukraine on Friday asked Turkey to detain a Russian-flagged cargo ship, which Kyiv alleged had sailed from the Kremlin-held port of Bardyansk.
While heavy fighting continued in eastern Ukraine, officials said schools in the Ukrainian capital would reopen for in-person classes on September 1 at the start of the school year for the first time since lessons went online after the invasion began.
The head of Kyiv’s Department of Education and Science, Olena Fidayan, said the land around the schools would be tested for explosives and that school bomb shelters would be restored with essential items.