Russia stepped up its missile and drone attacks against Ukraine on Wednesday. Killing students and other civilians, in a violent follow-up to dueling high-level diplomatic missions. Which aimed at bringing peace after 13 months of the war.
“Russia is shelling the city with bestial savagery,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post. Accompanying a video showing what he said. A Russian missile striking a nine-story apartment building on a busy road in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. “Residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at.”
At least one person was killed in the attack shown in the Zaporizhzhia video, apparently recorded by closed circuit TV cameras. Elsewhere, Moscow’s forces launched exploding drones before dawn. Killing at least eight people in or near a student dormitory near Kyiv.
Zaporizhzhia city is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Europe’s largest which has come under threat during the war and has been shut down for months.The U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency reported the plant had suffered another loss of a backup external power source. Its six reactors still need power to cool nuclear fuel.
Russia Denied
Russia has denied targeting residential areas even though artillery and rocket strikes hit apartment buildings. Russian officials have blamed Ukrainian air defenses for some of the deadliest strikes on apartments. saying the deployment of air defense systems in residential areas puts civilians at risk. Russia sometimes also claims Ukraine is hiding military equipment.
The war, which Russia started on Feb. 24, 2022, has evolved in two main directions. A front line mainly in eastern Ukraine centered around the city of Bakhmut. And periodic Russian missile and drone strikes nationwide. In addition, periodic — although unconfirmed — Ukrainian sabotage attacks have been launched across the border into Russia.
The attacks occurred as dueling diplomatic missions were winding down. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left Kyiv after meeting Zelenskyy to support Ukraine. Chinese leader Xi Jinping left Moscow after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.