Russia continues its missile attacks on Ukraine. Numerous rockets and combat drones are again fired at important infrastructure facilities. NATO countries in Eastern Europe strongly condemn the attacks. The UN Human Rights Council even speaks of possible war crimes by Russia.
In its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has once again fired rockets and combat drones at several regions of the country. The authorities in Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine reported attacks with Russian missiles. There were explosions in the vicinity of the capital Kyiv and in the Khmelnytskyi region, and the anti-aircraft defense system was deployed, officials said. The authorities called on people to seek shelter in basements and bunkers. The Dnipropetrovsk region was also shelled.
There was also an air alert in Kyiv. The people sought shelter there. In Lviv, western Ukraine, a rocket attack hit the city’s electricity supply. About 30 percent of the city was without electricity, Mayor Andrii Sadowji said on Telegram. A Reuters eyewitness reported three explosions in the city. Russian military bloggers close to the Kremlin confirmed the massive rocket fire in Ukraine. Ukrainian media reported that 20 rockets landed on Tuesday morning.
On Monday, Ukrainian authorities counted more than 80 Russian attacks. Many were averted by the air defenses. According to preliminary information, 19 people died in the shelling across the country and more than 100 were injured.
The presidents of eleven NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe have strongly condemned the recent Russian missile attacks on Ukraine. “On behalf of our states, we demand that Russia immediately stop attacks on civilian targets. We will not relax in our efforts to bring those responsible for today’s crimes to justice,” they said in a joint statement. It was signed by the heads of state of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia. In the statement, the heads of state also noted that war crimes and crimes against humanity are not subject to any statute of limitations and are subject to the jurisdiction of courts around the world.
According to the UN Human Rights Office, the latest Russian attacks in Ukraine could even constitute war crimes. Targeting civilians or infrastructure such as power plants that people need to survive is prohibited under international humanitarian law, a spokeswoman for the Geneva office said. “The locations and times of the attacks – when people went to work or took children to school – is particularly shocking,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.
