A strike near Makrariv, a small town located 50 kilometers west of Kyiv, destroyed critical infrastructure. Across the capital’s periphery, residents whose lives had resumed some normalcy when the war moved east months ago were reawakened by air raid sirens. It was unclear whether the drones carrying explosives caused casualties. Ukrainian officials said 13 people were killed and 37 wounded last day in Russian missile strikes targeting nine regions of Ukraine. The speaker of Russia’s lower house on Thursday said Russian forces had hit more than 70 energy facilities in Ukraine this week and threatened an “even tougher” response to future attacks by “the Kiev regime.” “All organizers and perpetrators of terrorist attacks must be found; those who resist must be destroyed,” State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on Telegram. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, overnight shelling destroyed a five-story apartment building as fighting continued on Ukraine’s southern front. An elderly woman receives help on a damaged bridge in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (Carl Court/Getty Images) Mykolayiv regional governor Vitaly Kim said an 11-year-old boy was rescued from under the rubble, where he had been trapped for six hours, and rescuers on Thursday morning were searching for seven other people, Kim said. He said the building was hit by an S-300 missile, which is typically used to target military aircraft, but the Russians are apparently increasingly using them for imprecise ground strikes.
Western allies promise more weapons
Early morning attacks on Ukraine’s southern front have become a daily occurrence in Russia’s war, as Kiev’s forces push for a counteroffensive aimed at recapturing territory seized by Moscow. Attacks in Kyiv had become rare before the capital was hit at least four times during mass attacks on Monday that killed at least 19 people and injured more than 100 across the country. Ukraine’s military said this week that its current air defenses have shot down dozens of incoming Russian missiles and Shahed-136 drones, the so-called kamikaze drones that have played an increasingly deadly role in the war. Their deployment may indicate that the Russian military is finishing its own drones. Ukraine’s Air Force Command announced Thursday that its air defenses shot down six Iranian drones from the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions overnight. Ukrainian officials said Iranian instructors based in the occupied territories of Ukraine have been training Russians how to operate the drones. WATCHES | Canada announces $47 million aid package for Ukraine:
Canada announces $47 million aid package for Ukraine
The Liberal government is spending $47 million to buy artillery shells, drone cameras and tens of thousands of winter clothing for Ukraine. Kyiv is asking for more, testing the limits of what allies can easily offer. Western leaders pledged this week to send more weapons to Ukraine, including air defense systems and weapons that Kyiv said are critical to defeating Russian invasion forces. The two countries announced Thursday that 20 soldiers from each side had been released as part of a prisoner exchange. “As a result of the exchange negotiation process today, 20 Russian servicemen returned from the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Kiev regime,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. The soldiers are being provided with the necessary medical and psychological assistance and will soon be taken to the Ministry of Defense medical facilities for treatment and rehabilitation. Ukraine also said its 20 soldiers were freed from captivity in Olenivka, in the occupied territories of Zaporizhia and Kherson. They are now undergoing medical tests.
The US reaffirms NATO’s defense commitment
The offer comes as NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels, aiming to help bolster Ukraine’s air defenses after Monday’s widespread Russian attack. “We are committed to defending every inch of NATO territory — if and when it comes to that,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Brussels. Leonid, a Christian priest, distributes aid packages to people on Wednesday in Bakhmuk, Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Carl Court/Getty Images) Condemnation of Russia also came Wednesday from the UN General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia’s recent “attempted illegal annexation” of four Ukrainian regions and demanded Moscow immediately reverse its actions. The vote in the 193-member global body was 143-5 with 35 abstentions, the strongest support by the General Assembly for Ukraine and against Russia of the four resolutions it has passed since Russian troops invaded Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Thursday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a regional summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. UN officials had hoped a day earlier that the meeting would lead to an extension of deals that Erdogan helped broker, which led to the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports and allowed Russia to ship fertilizer. “We are determined to transport Russia’s grain and fertilizers to underdeveloped countries through Turkey,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara and Moscow could jointly determine the countries to which the products would go. The war in Ukraine has created food shortages and price spikes, slowing agricultural shipments.
