Russia Launches Biggest Strike on Ukraine; 14 Cities Hit by Drones & Missiles

Kiev (The Uttam Hindu): Russia has carried out one of the biggest and most devastating attacks on Ukraine this year from Friday night to Saturday morning. 14 cities of Ukraine were rocked by a series of attacks of about 540 drones and 45 missiles, in which one person died and 24 people including three children were injured. This horrific attack has caused heavy damage to residential buildings and important infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the horror of the attack and said that Russia has once again targeted the homes of civilians. He posted on social media that the most destruction occurred in the city of Zaporizhia, where a five-story residential building was directly hit by a missile. After this attack, the city's power went out and about 25,000 people were forced to live in the dark. Local governor Ivan Fedorov said that the blasts caused fires in several areas and dozens of people were injured.

According to President Zelensky, 14 regions including Volyn, Donbass, Kharkiv and Kiev were targeted. He alleged that Russia used the time given for diplomatic talks to prepare for the attack. Zelensky made a strong appeal to the international community, saying, "Only statements against Russia will not work, but strict sanctions will have to be imposed on its banking and energy sector. If Russia is not stopped, it will continue to carry out such attacks."

In response to this attack, Ukraine also retaliated and attacked two major oil refineries of Russia with drones. There are reports of explosions and fire in refineries located in Krasnodar in southern Russia and Syzran area of Samara. Russian officials have confirmed that the fire in the Krasnodar refinery was caused by the debris of the drone. At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed to have shot down 11 Ukrainian drones.

This attack has come at a time when efforts for peace talks have almost come to a standstill. Recently, US President Donald Trump met the leaders of both countries separately, but Russia ruled out any possibility of a direct meeting between Putin and Zelensky.