Oct 11(ABC): Ukraine vowed to strengthen its armed forces after Russia launched its biggest aerial assaults on cities since the beginning of the war, forcing thousands to flee to bomb shelters and prompting Kyiv to halt electricity exports to Europe.
Missiles hit targets across Ukraine early on Monday, killing 14 people and wounding 97, emergency services said, as they tore into intersections, parks and tourist sites.
Explosions were reported in Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, Dnipro and Kremenchuk in the centre, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east, Ukrainian officials said.
The barrage of dozens of cruise missiles fired from air, land and sea was the most widespread wave of air strikes to hit away from the front lines, at least since the initial volleys on the war’s first day, Feb 24.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he ordered “massive” long-range strikes after accusing Ukraine of an attack on a bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea on Saturday, but the United States said the scale of the attacks meant they had likely been planned for longer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to US President Joe Biden on Monday and wrote on Telegram afterwards that air defence was the “number 1 priority in our defence cooperation”.
“We will do everything to strengthen our armed forces,” he said in a late Monday address. “We will make the battlefield more painful for the enemy.”
Biden told Zelensky the United States would provide advanced air defence systems. The Pentagon said on Sept 27 it would start delivering the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System over the next two months or so.
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said more help to Ukraine raised the risk of a wider war.
“Such assistance, as well as providing Kiev with intelligence, instructors and combat guidelines, leads to further escalation and increased the risks of a clash between Russia and NATO,” Antonov told media.
Monday’s rush-hour attacks were deliberately timed to kill people and knock out Ukraine’s power grid, according to Zelensky.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported 11 major infrastructure targets were hit in eight regions, leaving parts of Ukraine with no electricity, water or heat. He promised to restore utilities as quickly as possible.
As it tried to end blackouts, Ukraine halted electricity exports to the European Union, at a time when the continent already faces surging power prices that have stoked inflation and hampered industrial activity.
