Russia pummels Ukraine with new strikes after bombing aid point kills 29
Russia pummeled Ukraine with a fresh wave of overnight strikes a day after a deadly bombing of an aid center killed at least 29 people, Kyiv said Tuesday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing the strikes as "terror."
Moscow launched the attacks a week before Russia-Ukraine-US talks are due to resume in Abu Dhabi.
The strikes rained down across the country a night after Russian bombs on Monday reduced to rubble a former school turned a humanitarian aid distribution point in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Zelensky warned there were "still people under the rubble" in the village of Komyshuvakha after the attack, where he said "rescue operations continue as far as the security situation allows."
Russia also struck a hospital in Kharkiv, he said, wounding 73 people and damaging "the cardiology department, where people were receiving treatment."
Regional authorities earlier said patients were forced to evacuate.
The attacks came as Russian, Ukrainian and US officials prepare to meet next week, with Washington pushing an end to more than four years of war.
"It is very telling that all this is happening on the day of the US congressional elections. The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them," Zelensky said.
"But such terror must be noticed and stopped," he added.
The attacks followed a rare pause in fighting in the southern region of Kherson, which ended Sunday.
The truce, which was the longest in the war that erupted in February 2022, enabled a humanitarian mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.
- 'Double-tap strike' -
Hours after the local ceasefire ended, Russia targeted a village in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, killing at least 29 people, acting regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said. He added on Tuesday that 48 are considered missing.
Zelensky said Monday evening that "the Russians could not have been unaware" that residents had received humanitarian aid there every week.
"After the first aerial bomb strike, there was a double-tap strike with nine more bombs, specifically targeting the shelter where people were taking cover," Zelensky said.
In Kharkiv, regional leader Oleg Synegubov said 200 patients were forced to evacuate after Russia struck a medical facility.
Dnipropetrovsk's regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha said a Russian strike hit critical infrastructure in Dnipro and wounded 17 people in the city.
Russia's defense ministry said Tuesday it had carried out a "massive strike" on energy facilities across Ukraine, and port infrastructure in the Odesa region.
In Russia, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said nearly 500 drones heading towards the capital region were destroyed.
- 'More killings' -
The strikes came as Britain and France announced around 2,800 troops from 10 European countries will stage military exercises this month in support of Ukraine.
The soldiers from 10 European countries will meet in Poland for the first exercise of a new multinational force -- but it has no offensive mission and is only to be deployed once a ceasefire is agreed to end the war.
US-led talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war have so far not led to a breakthrough and the Kremlin has repeatedly said it intends to seize the rest of eastern Ukraine.
A rare truce in the Kherson region last week had raised hopes that a settlement to the war could be closer, but Russia's fresh strikes dashed those.
"There was a moment when the next steps (after the Oleshky truce) could have shown that progress toward peace was possible," Zelensky said Monday.
"With these killings, Russia is sending an entirely opposite signal: Russia is counting on more killings. There must be a response to this."
Last week's ceasefire, which was brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, enabled an evacuation of people in Russian-occupied Oleshky to both Ukraine-controlled territory and Moscow-annexed Crimea.
A senior Ukrainian figure told AFP on Sunday that Russia refused a Ukrainian offer to extend the truce.
Source: Agence France Presse
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