Russia returned to bombing Ukraine on Thursday, launching 36 missiles, 16 of which were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire, Ukrainian officials said.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said targets had been hit in the north, west and south of the country.
The person responsible referred to a “massive attack” against “critical infrastructure” in Ukraine carried out by Russian forces. “Unfortunately, there are attacks in the north and west, as well as in the Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions,” said Yermak, quoted by CNN International.
A 79-year-old woman was killed and at least seven other people injured when the rockets hit the town of Pavlohrad, local governor Serhiy Lysak said.
Wagner Group blames bureaucracy for the slow Bakhmut campaign
Russian businessman Evgeni Prigojine, owner of the Wagner mercenary company, said today that Moscow’s “monstrous bureaucracy” is preventing the rapid conquest of eastern Ukraine’s Bakhmut region.
According to Prigojine, this region will only be conquered “in March or April”, because the supply networks are not able to push the season forward.
The owner of the Wagner mercenary company, employed by Moscow, directly referred to the situation on the ground in texts and videos published on the digital messaging network Telegram.
First visit by an Israeli minister since the Russian invasion
This Thursday is also marked by the visit of Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who arrived in Kiev this morning. It is the first visit by a Jewish minister of state to Ukraine since the Russian invasion nearly a year ago, the Israeli ministry said.
“We were with the Ukrainian people and Ukraine last year,” Cohen said upon arrival, with a meeting scheduled with his counterpart, Dmytro Kouleba, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
If you use a device, you can put the device in the correct position. אσ ל50 לυ ד changש הוכח light nelא nelם πס let’sk nel nel nel nel itch שש exam נחשפת cell נחשפת^ 000 000 כ, predister גנ sand גנ sander כstraat כ alternercנת ב bulky.
See also: שלומי אמסלם, לע”מ pic.twitter.com/4mcYXvqxIy
– אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) February 16, 2023
“Today, we are going to raise the Israeli flag at the Israeli embassy in Kiev, which will permanently resume its activities with the aim of strengthening relations between the countries,” the Israeli ministry’s statement said.
Since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Israel has tried to remain neutral in this conflict.
Israel, which claimed to have privileged ties with Moscow, has not provided weapons to Kiev, despite repeated requests from President Zelensky.
In early February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was considering military aid to Ukraine, while also offering to mediate the conflict.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented 7,155 civilian deaths and 11,662 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
