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A barrage of Russian drone and missile strikes pummelled Ukraine on Thursday, killing six agricultural workers in the east alongside two in the capital Kyiv in the latest in an intensifying exchange of attacks.
The strikes, which triggered air raid sirens and sent locals rushing underground for shelter, came after both Kyiv and Moscow were at the United Nations and vowed no let-up in their long-range attacks, dimming any immediate prospects for peace in Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in New York seeking more Western support for stronger sanctions against the Kremlin, accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure.
The increase in attacks, particularly on Kyiv, has prompted residents to consider contingency plans for the winter, if Russian strikes once again knock out the energy system vital for heating in bitter sub-zero temperatures.
Burnt-out cars and the smouldering remains of buildings were seen in Kyiv, emergency service images showed, after the early morning attacks that the authorities said included powerful ballistic missiles.
At least two people were killed across the city, Prime Minister Sergiy Koretsky said.
In the Kharkiv region, the regional prosecutor’s office published images showing the inside of a destroyed warehouse, with what appeared to be piles of apples strewn on the floor and a gaping hole in the roof.
The storage facility in the Chuguiv district, southeast of Kharkiv, was hit as employees were sorting vegetables, it added.
Drone-missile hybrid
“Preliminary data indicate that the enemy used a small-sized cruise missile known as ‘Banderol’,” a statement read.
A Banderol is a low-cost hybrid weapon combining characteristics of a cruise missile and an attack drone. The Russian military has used them on a large scale, notably to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Eight settlements in the region had been attacked in the last 24 hours, its governor Oleg Synegubov said.
In and around Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, officials said Russian strikes caused a fire at a shopping mall and also hit houses and businesses.
The latest attacks came a day after a series of Russian strikes killed at least seven people in Ukraine and sparked fires in Kyiv.
The capital, which is home to some 3 million people, has been the target of particularly intense drone attacks in recent days, hitting petrol stations and the rail network.
The Nova Post postal and courier company said one of its branches was destroyed and its sorting depot was damaged in Thursday’s strikes.
AFP analysis of data from the ACLED armed conflict monitor showed that there were more Russian strikes on the Kyiv region in the first 18 days of September than in any full month since the start of the war apart from March 2022.
Zelenskyy met NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in New York to brief him on the latest security situation and made a renewed push for US-made interceptors against ballistic missiles and tougher sanctions on Russia.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged both sides not to target the other’s energy sector.
But Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday there would be no “pause” in the war, while Zelenskyy said Moscow would leave Kyiv “no choice” but to do likewise if the Kremlin again weaponised the region’s brutal winter with attacks on energy facilities.
Additional sources • AFP