Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian cities on Friday claimed the lives of 26, including five children, despite Kiev’s claims that preparations for a counteroffensive against Moscow’s soldiers were nearly finished.
Russian cruise missiles killed 23 people, including four children, in a strike on a residential building in the historic city of Uman in central Ukraine. In addition, a young woman and her two-year-old daughter were killed in the central city of Dnipro, and a 57-year-old woman was killed in the southern region of Kherson.
After a series of Russian airstrikes that were intended to cripple Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter, there had been a weeks-long lull before the onslaught of nearly two dozen missiles overnight.
Workers in Uman, where a yearly Hasidic pilgrimage takes place, discovered another child’s body amid the debris on Friday night. According to the authorities, 23 persons, including four children, were killed in Uman by Russian cruise missiles.
Earlier in the day, Dmitry, a 33-year-old native from the eastern city of Lugansk, which is governed by Russia, said, “I want to see my children; they are under the rubble.”
In the centre of the 80,000-person metropolis, rescuers were using cranes to sift through the wreckage of the multi-story housing block for survivors.
The centre city of Dnipro, which was already in mourning following a strike on a tower block in January that left more than 40 people dead, was also struck by Russian missiles.
Authorities reported that a 31-year-old lady and her two-year-old daughter were killed in their sleep during the Dnipro attacks.
Hospitalised were the parents of the young woman.
Authorities in the area reported that “neighbours say that it was a quiet and kind family.”
Separately, authorities in the southern Kherson region reported on Friday night that three people were injured and one person, aged 57, was killed when Russian forces shelled the village of Bilozerka.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, denounced the most recent barrage and promised retaliation.
In his evening address, Putin claimed that “only absolute evil can unleash such terror against Ukraine.”
Mykhaylo Podolyak, one of his advisers, tweeted: “Give us guns if you don’t want THIS to spread over the world. many weapons. Add sanctions as well.
Moscow claimed that it had attacked Ukrainian military reserves and that “all assigned objects were hit.”
Nine people, including an eight-year-old girl in the city of Donetsk, were reportedly murdered by Ukrainian shelling, according to officials in eastern Ukraine who were placed by Moscow.
Kyiv, one of the cities attacked on Friday, has no confirmed deaths. The capital has not experienced a missile strike in more over 50 days, until 12 drones of Iranian manufacture targeted it last week; eight of them were shot down without causing any casualties.
In total, Ukraine claimed to have shot down 21 of 23 Russian missiles as well as two attack drones.
The recent arrival of Western equipment essential to the nation’s war effort has strengthened the air defence system of the nation.
The latest attacks occurred as Ukraine’s defence minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, declared that his nation was almost ready to hit back against firmly established Russian strongholds.
According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, NATO allies and partners have sent Ukraine 1,550 armoured vehicles and 230 tanks to assist it organise units and reclaim territory from Russian forces.
“Equipment has been prepared, promised, and delivered in part. We are prepared on a worldwide scale, Reznikov remarked.
Throughout the entire conflict that Russia started in February 2022, Kiev has vowed to drive Russian troops from the eastern and southern Ukrainian regions.
Regarding the intended offensive, Reznikov continued, “Preparations are coming to an end.”
“We will do it as soon as it is God’s will, the weather, and the decision of the commanders.”
The eastern Donbas region has seen the majority of the combat, especially around the nearly entirely devastated city of Bakhmut.
Several Ukrainian soldiers told AFP that Russian special forces were also involved in the bloody clashes in Bakhmut, in addition to members of the mercenary group Wagner.
Alex, 34, who lives close to Bakhmut, said the circumstances were challenging.
He declared, “We are short on soldiers, and we have both many wounded and dead.”
“You have to hide behind a corpse sometimes in the trenches,” he continued. It is the only means of surviving.
Marat Khusnullin, the deputy prime minister of Russia, announced on Friday that he had visited the troubled city for the first time and promised that Moscow will reconstruct it.
Moscow has fostered its relationship with China in an effort to find partners to sustain its protracted war effort.
This week, the leaders of Ukraine and China spoke on the phone, with Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly supporting negotiations for peace.
Following the conversation between Xi and Zelensky on Wednesday, Russia alleged that Ukraine was undermining peace efforts.
Zelensky claimed on Friday that he had asked Xi for assistance in repatriating Ukrainian youngsters who had been sent to Russia.
