প্রকাশ: 15/09/2022
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy heard firsthand what people in recaptured northeastern
towns experienced under Russian forces while a major city struggled to contain
damage to its water system from Russian missile attacks.
Kryvyi Rih, the largest city in central Ukraine with an
estimated pre-war population of 650,000, was targeted by eight cruise missiles
on Wednesday, officials said.
"The water pumping station was destroyed. The river
broke through the dam and overflowed its banks. Residential buildings are just
a few meters away from the river," Ukrainian legislator Inna Sovsun said
on Twitter.
The missile strikes hit the Karachunov reservoir dam,
Zelenskiy said in a video address released early on Thursday. The water system
had no military value and hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on it
daily, he said.
The video was released after Zelenskiy's return to Kyiv from
the Kharkiv region and following word from his office that his car had collided
with a private vehicle in the capital.
"The president was examined by a doctor, no serious
injuries were found," presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said in a
Facebook post early on Thursday.
Russian forces suffered a stunning reversal this month after
Ukrainian troops made a rapid armoured thrust in Kharkiv region, forcing a
rushed Russian withdrawal.
Zelenskiy on Wednesday made a surprise visit to Izium -
until four days ago Russia's main bastion and logistics hub in the region -
where he watched as the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was raised in front of
the charred city council building.
"Our law enforcers are already receiving evidence of
murder, torture, and abductions of people by the occupiers," Zelenskiy
said in his address.
Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians, and Reuters
could not immediately verify the claims.
On the main thoroughfare, no buildings were left unscathed:
A derelict bath house had a hole blasted in its side; meat shops, pharmacies, a
shoe shop and a beauty salon had been sprayed with shrapnel.
Zelenskiy handed out medals to soldiers who freed the
Balakliia area, another town retaken in recent days. Citizens and police told
reporters civilians were killed during months of Russian occupation.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also wrote on Twitter about
the attacks on Kryvyi Rih: "Beaten by Ukrainian army on the battlefield,
Russian cowards are now at war with our critical infrastructure and civilians.
Russia is a terrorist state and must be recognised as such."
In that vein, US senators from both Democratic and
Republican parties introduced legislation that would designate Russia as a
state sponsor of terrorism. The measure is opposed by President Joe Biden's
administration.
US ADDRESS
Zelenskiy was scheduled to speak to the United Nations
General Assembly on Sept. 21, and the assembly was due to consider on Friday a
proposal for him to address the annual gathering of world leaders in a recorded
video. Russia is opposed to Zelenskiy speaking.
US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after talking to
Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was hopeful a US-brokered deal on
Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports would be expanded to include Russian ammonia,
a main ingredient in nitrate fertilizer. Shortages of fertilizer are
contributing to a global food crisis.
Also on the diplomatic front, Putin and China's President Xi
Jinping will discuss Ukraine and Taiwan at a meeting in Uzbekistan on Thursday
which the Kremlin said would hold "special significance" given the
geopolitical situation.
Western politicians and military officials have said it was
too early to tell whether Ukraine's September success marked a turning point in
the war because Russia had yet to fully respond.
"We should avoid euphoria. There is still a lot of work
to be done to liberate our lands, and Russia has a large number of
weapons," Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the national security and defence
council, said in an online post.
CHARRED REMAINS
On the road into Izium, bus stops were daubed with
"Z" markings, the symbol Russian forces use to identify themselves,
and the charred remains of tanks and armoured personnel carriers lay by the
roadside.
With a pink hood wrapped around her face for warmth, Liubov
Sinna, 74, said residents were still fearful.
"Because we lived through this whole six months. We sat
it out in cellars. We went through everything it is possible to go through. We
absolutely cannot say that we feel safe," she said.
A day after speaking by phone for 90 minutes to Vladimir
Putin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Russian president
"unfortunately" still did not think his invasion was a mistake. Putin
says he wants to ensure Russian security and protect Russian-speakers in
Ukraine. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of an unprovoked war of aggression.
In a move that suggests Putin had wider war aims when he
ordered troops into Ukraine on February 24, three people close to the Russian
leadership told Reuters that Putin had rejected a provisional deal with Kyiv
around the time the war began.
They said the deal would have satisfied Russia's demand that
Ukraine stay out of the US-led Western military alliance NATO. The Kremlin said
the Reuters report had "absolutely no relation to reality". It also
said Ukraine's ambitions to join NATO still presented a threat to Russia.
- Reuters
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