Russian attacks battered cities across Ukraine on Friday, killing 26 people including five children, as Kiev said preparations for a retaliatory strike against Moscow’s forces were almost complete.
The deadly new attacks included an attack on a residential block in the historic city of Uman in central Ukraine, where AFP reporters saw rescue workers extricating remains of victims from a destroyed residential building.
The nearly two dozen missile strikes ended a weeks-long pause after repeated Russian attacks aimed at crippling Ukraine’s energy grid during the winter months.
On Friday evening, workers in Uman, which is home to an annual Hasidic pilgrimage, pulled the body of another child from under the rubble. Officials said Russian cruise missiles killed 23 people in Uman, including four children.
“I want to see my children, they are under the rubble,” said Dimitri, a 33-year-old local from Lugansk, an eastern city under Russian control, earlier in the day.
Rescuers were using cranes to search for survivors among the remains of a multi-storey housing block in the central city of 80,000 residents.
“I’ve seen a lot, but I haven’t lost my children before. Now I want to see my children, dead or alive.”
Russian missiles also struck the central city of Dnipro, which was already in grief following an attack on a tower block in January that killed more than 40 people.
Officials said a 31-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter died in their sleep in the attacks in Dnipro.
The girl’s parents are admitted in the hospital.
“Neighbors say it was a quiet and kind family,” said regional officials.
Separately, officials in the southern region of Kherson said on Friday evening that Russian forces shelled the village of Bilozerka, killing a 57-year-old woman and wounding three others.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the latest barrage and vowed a response.
“Only unbridled evil can unleash such terror against Ukraine,” he said in his evening address.
His adviser, Mikhailo Podolić, tweeted: “If you don’t want this to spread around the world, arm us. Lots of weapons. Add more restrictions.”
Moscow said it had targeted reserve units of the Ukrainian army and that “all specified objects were targeted.”
Moscow-based officials in eastern Ukraine said Ukrainian shelling had killed nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, in the city of Donetsk.
– ‘We are ready’ –
No casualties were reported in Kiev, which was among the cities targeted on Friday.
The capital had not been hit by missiles in more than 50 days, although last week it was attacked by 12 Iranian-made drones, eight of which were shot down without casualties.
Ukraine said that in total it shot down 21 of 23 Russian missiles and two attack drones.
The country’s air defense system has been strengthened in recent months by deliveries of Western equipment vital to the country’s war effort.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said the new attacks came as his country had almost completed preparations to push back Russia’s positions.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that NATO allies and partners have provided Ukraine with 1,550 armored vehicles and 230 tank units to help build and retake territory from Russian forces.
“The equipment has been promised, prepared and partially delivered. In a global sense, we are ready,” Reznikov said.
Kiev has said during the war launched by Russia in February 2022 that it intends to expel Moscow’s forces from the territory they control in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Reznikov said of the planned invasion, “Preparations are coming to an end.”
– ‘The only way to survive’ –
“As soon as God’s will, the weather and the decision of the commanders – we will do it.”
Most of the fighting is centered on the eastern Donbass region, particularly the city of Bakhmut, which has been almost completely destroyed.
Several Ukrainian soldiers told AFP that the tough fighting in Bakhmut involved not only members of the mercenary group Wagner but also Russian special forces.
Not far from Bakhmut, 34-year-old Alex said the situation was difficult.
“We lack soldiers, we have many wounded, and even killed,” he said.
“Sometimes in the trenches, you have to hide behind a corpse,” he said. “It’s the only way to survive.”
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusulin said on Friday he had made a rare visit to the beleaguered city and vowed that Moscow would rebuild it.
In need of allies to support its drawn-out war effort, Moscow has developed its ties with China.
This week the leaders of Ukraine and China spoke by telephone, with Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly advocating for peace talks.
Xi and Zelensky’s discussions on Wednesday were marred by Russian accusations that Ukraine was undermining efforts to end the fighting.
Zelensky said on Friday he had asked Xi to help repatriate Ukrainian children deported by Russia.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)