LAST UPDATE | 14 Jan 2023
A STRIKE ON a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has left at least five dead and 27 injured, officials said.
“There are already five dead,” Dnipropetrovsk governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on messaging app Telegram, where he posted a photo of an apartment block reduced to ruins, adding: “27 people were wounded. Among them are six children. All are in hospital.”
The strike hit the entrance of a nine-storey building, turning several floors into smouldering rubble.
“Eternal memory to all whose lives were taken by Russian terror! The world must stop this evil,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media in response.
“Debris clearance in Dnipro continues … we are fighting for every person, every life,” Zelenskyy added.
Moldova has said it had found missile debris on its territory after the strikes and condemned the attacks.
“Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine directly impacts Moldova again,” President Maia Sandu tweeted, posting photos of the wreckage. “Border police found rocket fragments near Larga village in northern Moldova. We strongly condemn today’s intensified attacks.”
Ukrainians were celebrating the Old New Year today, a popular holiday on the eve of which kids traditionally are given sweets.
“Festive Saturday – and the continuation of (Russian) terror. While Ukrainian children are enjoying the sweets received yesterday – Russia attacks residential buildings,” Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said.
“Moscow proves (its) cynicism knows no bounds,” Presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said, “(Russia) must be expelled from the UN Security Council right now,” he added.
It comes after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the UK will provide tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv’s forces “push Russian troops back”.
The move makes the UK the first Western power to supply the Ukrainians with main battle tanks.
Downing Street said Sunak made the pledge during a call this morning with Zelenskyy.
In a readout of the phone conversation, a No 10 spokeswoman said the Prime Minister offered Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems as a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine”.
Always strong support of the UK is now impenetrable and ready for challenges. In a conversation with the Prime Minister, @RishiSunak, I thanked for the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 14, 2023
Zelenskyy thanked the UK on Twitter for making decisions that “will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners”.
UK Government insiders said the decision on tanks had to be made now in order to ensure Ukrainian soldiers could be trained in how to use the mobile weapons before a potential spring offensive.
Ministers hope the announcement will encourage other allies to follow suit.
Downing St has not yet confirmed the exact numbers of tanks it will send to Kyiv.
Both Kyiv and Moscow are reportedly gearing up for a spring offensive as the weather warms and the Ukrainian mud dries out.
Sunak’s announcement came hours after a missile attack on critical infrastructure is under way in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, according to officials.
Deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko wrote on Telegram that an assault was under way as a series of explosions and air raid sirens were heard in Kyiv on Saturday morning.
City mayor Vitali Klitschko said that “explosions were heard in Dniprovskyi district, left bank of Kyiv”.
In a separate Telegram post, Klitschko said fragments of a missile fell on a non-residential area in Holosiivskyi district, on the right bank, and added that no casualties were reported.
It was not immediately clear whether the explosions were caused by the strikes or by air defence systems operating.
The Ukrainian capital has not been attacked since New Year’s Day.
In the outlying Kyiv region, a residential building in the village of Kopyliv was hit, and windows of the houses nearby were blown out, Tymoshenko said.
Earlier on Saturday, two Russian missiles hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, the governor of the region reported.
Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the industrial district of Kharkiv. The extent of the damage from the strike was not immediately clear, but no casualties have been reported.
The attacks come amid conflicting reports on the fate of the fiercely contested salt mining town of Soledar, in Ukraine’s embattled east. Russia claims that its forces have captured the town, a development that would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.
However, Ukrainian authorities and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insist the fight for Soledar continues.
Moscow has painted the battle for the town and the nearby city of Bakhmut as key to capturing the eastern region of the Donbas, which comprises of partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and as a way to grind down the best Ukrainian forces and prevent them from launching counter-attacks elsewhere.
But that cuts both ways, as Ukraine says its fierce defence of the eastern strongholds has helped tie up Russian forces. Western officials and analysts say the two towns’ importance is more symbolic than strategic.
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