“A missile attack on essential infrastructure” is underway in kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency said on Saturday.
Russia fired missiles at key infrastructure in kyiv and other parts of Ukraine on Saturday (January 14th), according to Ukrainian officials, while uncertainty remains over the fate of Soledar, in the east of the country of which Moscow claims having taken control after a fierce battle.
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“A missile attack on critical infrastructureis underway in Kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram, while the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Dniprovskiy district, calling on residents to “stay in the shelters“. Fragments of a missile fell in the Golosiivsky district, without causing any injuries, the mayor of kyiv said again.
Attacks against critical infrastructure
In the Kharkiv region (north-east), “the enemy launched a new missile attack on critical infrastructuresaid Governor Oleg Synegibov. Emergency power cuts could have in this city, the second in Ukraine. Attacks have also been reported further south, in the Zaporizhia region. “The enemy again attacks the territory of Ukraine“, also said the head of the Cherkasy region (center), Igor Taburets, adding to expect large-scale alerts in the middle of the day.
Since October and a series of setbacks in Ukraine, Moscow has been methodically bombarding the country’s vital infrastructure, forcing electricity companies to restore the network as quickly as possible as the winter gets harsher.
The city of Soledar at the heart of a strategic advance
On the front line, fighting for Soledar “continue“, affirmed Friday evening the Ukrainian staff, without giving more details. Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the “release“of this city had taken place”January 12 in the evening“. The Russian military hailed the “brave actions” fighters from the Wagner mercenary group, whose men led “the direct assault on the residential areas of Soledar“.
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The spokesman for the Eastern Command of the Ukrainian army, Serguiï Tcherevaty, had affirmed during the day that his troops were keeping the situation “under control in difficult conditions“face”to the best units of Wagner and other special forces» Russians. “It’s a difficult phase of the war“, had for his part underlined the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, Ganna Maliar, recognizing “a high-intensity (Russian) offensive“.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US-based body, the capture of Soledar, a small town of around 10,000 before the conflict, is however “unlikely to portend imminent encirclement of Bakhmout», Main target of the Russian army, located 15 kilometers southwest of Soledar. The fighting in and around Soledar has been raging for several months, but its intensity has increased sharply in recent days.
Russia lonely internationally
To deal with the Russian army, kyiv on Friday again called on its Western allies to provide it with more weapons and high-performance military equipment, such as heavy tanks and long-range missiles. “To win this war, we need more military equipment, heavy equipment“, urged on Telegram Andriï Iermak, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency.
The UN Security Council for its part met again on Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Friday, nearly eleven months after the start of the Russian invasion. “Ukraine, Russia, the world cannot afford for this war to continuesaid UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo. But “it is the military logic that dominates, with very little space for dialogue at the moment, if there is any“, she added, seeing “no sign of an end to the fighting“.
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