Kyiv: Ukraine has said that at least seven people have been killed and nine have been injured by Russian shelling. Meanwhile the AFP reported that Ukraine said it killed ‘around 50 Russian occupiers’ without providing details.
The casualties are the latest in a series of fast-paced developments that began when the Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced military operations in Ukraine on Thursday. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador has appealed to India to contact Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr to mediate the crisis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging global leaders to provide defense assistance to Ukraine and help protect its airspace from Russia.
In a statement that comes amid Russia’s wide-ranging attack on Ukraine that began early Thursday, Zelensky said that Russia “has unleased a war with Ukraine and the entire democratic world”.
He asked for world leaders to provide large-scale defense support and to protect Ukraine’s airspace from the “aggressor”.
Ukraine believes that India is one of the countries who can influence Russia. Ukrainian Ambassador to India Igor Polikha said in a media briefing streamed on Facebook, “There are few nations in the world which can influence Russia, and India is one of them.”
Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast on Thursday, officials and media said. Gunfire rattled near the capital’s main airport, the Interfax news agency said, and sirens were heard over Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused UN chief Antonio Guterres of being “susceptible to pressure by the West” and making statements on Ukraine that are “not compatible with his status”.
The US Embassy encouraged Americans in Ukraine to shelter in place amid Russia’s military mobilization.
Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Mariupol, and other cities were attacked early Thursday.
Russia’s defense ministry has said that they have neutralized Ukrainian military airbases and their air defense systems. This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive against his country’s neighbor. “Military infrastructure at Ukrainian army air bases has been rendered out of action,” the defense ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies, which added that Kyiv’s air defense systems were “eliminated”.
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