At least 10 dead as Russian missiles hit Kyiv, other Ukrainian cities
Sometimes headlines write themselves.
At least 10 are dead and 60 injured across Ukraine, according to the latest report from Kyiv, as a barrage of Russian missiles stuck the Ukrainian capitol and other cities. Some missiles struck central Kyiv. Others hit critical electrical infrastructure and cities previously considered safe havens from the war.
Ukraine claimed it shot down 43 of 83 Russian missiles and called for more Eurupean aid to strengthen its air defenses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a statement via Telegram, “This is the 229th day of the full-scale war. This is the 229th day they are trying to annihilate us and wipe us off the face of the earth. That’s it, in a nutshell.” Do not leave your shelters, Zelensky urged. “Let’s hang in there and be strong.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted of a “massive strike” across Ukraine at a meeting of his Security Council on Monday. Accusing Ukraine’s special services of carrying out an attack on the Crimean Bridge, Putin warned of “harsh” reprisal. “Its scale will correspond to the level of threats,” he said. Ukrainian officials called for a “resolute response” from allies to the torrent of attacks on energy facilities and civilian targets — including in the heart of Kyiv, the first major strikes in the capital in months.
The Crimean bridge explosion was a stinging insult for the Russian dictator. It was clear there would be reprisals (Washington Post):
“There is no doubt that the attack was aimed at destroying critical civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a video released by the Kremlin on Sunday. The 12-mile span, while used by civilians, is a crucial military logistics conduit for Russia’s military, the only direct road and rail route from mainland Russia to Crimea, which the Kremlin invaded and illegally annexed in 2014.
[…]
Putin has been under pressure to up the ante in what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine after a succession of recent battlefield failures. In the past six weeks, Ukraine has routed Russian forces from the northeast Kharkiv region, and pushed them back in the eastern Donbas region and southern Kherson region.
But while hitting Kyiv might please Russian hard-liners who have been calling for more attacks on the capital, it will not reverse Russia’s core strategic programs, including losses of soldiers and equipment, flagging morale, and repeated logistical failures.
Ironically, MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan Sunday night interviewed Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. Ukraine recruited Hamill to raise funds for the country’s “Army of Drones” effort. The war is a real David versus Goliath struggle, Hamill observed. Not unlike the fictional struggle that made him internationally famous.
“Who would support Russia?” an incredulous Hamill asked in commenting on domestic response to the Russian invasion.
“Oh, yeah, Fox News, OAN, Newsmax. It’s really, really strange.”
Also, Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, and other authoritarianism-curious Trump cultists. And dupes like this guy:
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