Punishing Ukraine for Defying Russia

"At exactly 7 a.m. the [Ukrainians] subjected the center of Donetsk [city] to the most massive strike since 2014."

"Forty rockets from BM-21 ‘Grad’ MLRS were fired at civilians in our city. [A key intersection in Donetsk city center had come under fire]."

Moscow-appointed mayor, Aleksey Kulemzin

 

"[The city was hit 86 times with] artillery, MLRS, tanks, mortars and UAVs, [in the past 24 hours]."  

"One of [the victims] was a volunteer, a member of the rapid response team of the international organization."

"During the shelling, they were on the street, they were fatally wounded by fragments of enemy shells."

Yaroslav Yanushevych, regional head, Kherson military administration

A firefighter works inside a destroyed apartment of a residential building hit by shelling in Donetsk on December 15. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

"[Russian strikes are exposing millions of people to] extreme hardship."

"Additional strikes could lead to a further serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation and spark more displacement. [The war is an] unmitigated tragedy and disaster."

"[Russian forces killed at least 441 civilians in the early days of the invasion. Moscow has denied targeting civilians]."

"[Accountability for such incidents is] sorely lacking," [Not a single member of Russia's armed forces was known to have been held accountable by Moscow for carrying out, or failing to prevent, these killings]."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk 

 

"[The United States had] effectively become a party [to the war in Ukraine. U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, including the transfer of such sophisticated weapons as the Patriot missile system] would mean even broader involvement of military personnel in the hostilities and could entail possible consequences."

Russian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

"[The death rate in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol has skyrocketed amid a lack of heating, food, and medical supplies]."

"The incidence rate is insane. A flu epidemic is spreading in Mariupol. Hospitals are overcrowded. The ambulance does not even leave for those with a high temperature because there is no place to hospitalize people for treatment."

"At the beginning of November, the weekly death rate was about 150 people. Last week it exceeded 250 deaths per week.... That is 7-7.5 times higher than it was before the beginning of this phase of the war,."

Petro Andryushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol

 How surprising is that? Russia is pouring all the munitions it has, hoping to secure more in good time, at Ukraine's city centers all over the country, wreaking damage to the country's energy systems, leaving millions of people without electricity, heating, water, the very basics of winter existence. the Ukrainian military is doing its best to return the compliment, and this enrages Russia, reporting that 'war crimes' are being committed by Ukraine in its targeting of Russian-held territories, as part of its campaign for their return to Ukraine's sovereign possession.

 

A soldier known as 'Kipish' holds the remains of a rocket that he allegedly shot down with rudimentary equipment Credit: Felipe Dana/AP Photo

 

 

The commanding officer of a soldier known as Kipish with the  territorial defence troop praised his "lightni8ng fast reaction" when the soldier using a machine gun hit a cruise missile destroying it. "When he fired, green sparks went off (the missile), it started to spin, tilted on its tail and tumbled down", said the commander. The gun had been mounted atop ammunition crates in a suburb of Kyiv. And he was duly praised for pulling off the "impossible". 

"It's almost impossible to hit a missile with a machine gun, but it was done", further explained another commander. This feat on Friday as Russia launched one of its most powerful barrages of missile fire against Ukraine, once again hitting and crippling the power grid. Pieces of the missile landed in a field of snow. Images from the scene show a grinning young man holding what appears to be the wing of a missile.

The Russian barrage was launched from the Black and Caspian seas and included Kh-191Kalibr and S-300 missiles. All cities in Kharkiv and Poltava provinces were bereft of electricity within minutes of the attack. Kyiv was left temporarily without water. In Kremenchuk both water and power supply were disrupted. In President Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih, a missle hit a block of flats. Three people were found dead and 13 injured when rescue teams scoured the debris, among them four injured children. Close to 600 miners were trapped underground as missile strikes cut off electricity at the town's coal mine. By late afternoon, about 250 of the miners had been rescued. 

 

In Kyiv all metro trains were stopped while local residents rushed to underground stations to wait out the air attacks. Ukraine's second-largest city -- Kharkiv, suffered one of its worst attacks yet in this conflict. According to Mayor Ihor Terehov "colossal infrastructure damage" was done. A fraction of the homes affected by power cuts saw their power restored Friday. The impact from previous missile strikes was compounded by the added damage from Friday's mass attack. 

Nine power stations were hit. Ukrenergo the country's electricity operator announced that less than 50 percent of all customers would have their power restored in a bid to prioritize critical infrastructure like hospitals. According to Yuri Ihnat, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, markings on some of the missiles launched on Friday identified their manufacture as a mere months earlier. "They are using up thei8r reserves quicker than they can shore them up", he stated.

 

Launch of the Igla MANPADS missile. Frame from the video