Current:Home > StocksRussian missiles slam into a Ukraine city and kill 13 people as the war approaches a critical stage -FundSphere
Russian missiles slam into a Ukraine city and kill 13 people as the war approaches a critical stage
View
Date:2025-04-14 01:47:00
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Three Russian missiles slammed into a downtown area of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, hitting an eight-floor apartment building and killing at least 13 people, authorities said.
At least 61 people, including two children, were wounded in the morning attack, Ukrainian emergency services said. Chernihiv lies about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of the capital, Kyiv, near the border with Russia and Belarus, and has a population of around 250,000 people.
The latest Russian bombardment came as the war stretched into its third year and approached what could be a critical juncture as a lack of further military support from Ukraine’s Western partners increasingly leaves it at the mercy of the Kremlin’s bigger forces.
Through the winter months, Russia made no dramatic advance along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, focusing instead on attritional warfare. However, Ukraine’s shortage of artillery ammunition, troops and armored vehicles has allowed the Russians to gradually push forward, military analysts say.
A crucial element for Ukraine is the holdup in Washington of approval for an aid package that includes roughly $60 billion for Ukraine. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he would try to move the package forward this week.
Ukraine’s need is now acute, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
“The Russians are breaking out of positional warfare and beginning to restore maneuver to the battlefield because of the delays in the provision of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine,” the ISW said in an assessment late Tuesday.
“Ukraine cannot hold the present lines now without the rapid resumption of U.S. assistance, particularly air defense and artillery that only the U.S. can provide rapidly and at scale,” it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded with Western countries to provide his country with more air defense systems. He said of the Chernihiv strike that “this would not have happened if Ukraine had received enough air defense equipment and if the world’s determination to counter Russian terror was also sufficient.”
Zelenskyy told PBS in an interview broadcast earlier this week that Ukraine recently ran out of air defense missiles while it was defending against a major missile and drone attack that destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants, part of a recent Russian campaign targeting energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian forces are digging in, building fortifications in anticipation of a major Russian offensive that Kyiv officials say could come as early as next month.
Ukraine is using long-range drone and missile strikes behind Russian lines which are designed to disrupt Moscow’s war machine.
Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday that a Ukrainian drone was shot down over the Tatarstan region early Wednesday. That’s the same area that was targeted in early April by Ukraine’s deepest strike so far inside Russia, about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) east of Ukraine.
Ukrainian drone developers have been extending the weapons’ range.
Another Ukrainian drone was shot down over the Mordovia region, roughly 350 kilometers (220 miles) east of Moscow, the ministry said. That is 700 kilometers (430 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
About an hour before that Mordovia attack, Russia’s civil aviation authority halted flights at airports in two of the country’s largest cities, Nizhny Novgorod and Tatarstan’s Kazan, because of safety concerns.
Also, unconfirmed reports said a Ukrainian missile struck an airfield in occupied Crimea. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials confirmed the strike, but local authorities temporarily closed a road where the airfield is located. Russian news agency Tass quoted the local mayor as saying windows in a mosque and a private house in the region were shattered in a blast there.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
veryGood! (39)
Related
- The GOP and Kansas’ Democratic governor ousted targeted lawmakers in the state’s primary
- Proof Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's Son Rocky Is Embracing Spooky Season Before Halloween
- Florida financial adviser indicted in alleged illegal tax shelter scheme
- Former 'Survivor' player, Louisiana headmaster convicted of taping students' mouths shut
- Billy Bean was an LGBTQ advocate and one of baseball's great heroes
- Maggie Smith Dead at 89: Downton Abbey Costars and More Pay Tribute
- Joliet, Illinois, Plans to Source Its Future Drinking Water From Lake Michigan. Will Other Cities Follow?
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs impregnated victim, Yung Miami encouraged abortion, lawsuit alleges
- Judge says Mexican ex-official tried to bribe inmates in a bid for new US drug trial
- Kentucky sues Express Scripts, alleging it had a role in the deadly opioid addiction crisis
Ranking
- British golfer Charley Hull blames injury, not lack of cigarettes, for poor Olympic start
- Sharpton and Central Park Five members get out the vote in battleground Pennsylvania
- Chappell Roan Cancels Festival Appearances to Prioritize Her Health
- Massachusetts governor says a hospital was seized through eminent domain to keep it open
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- North Carolina appeals court blocks use of university’s digital ID for voting
- Celebrity dog Swaggy Wolfdog offers reward for safe return of missing $100,000 chain
- Opinion: The US dollar's winning streak is ending. What does that mean for you?
Recommendation
Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
Trees down: Augusta National 'assessing the effects' of Hurricane Helene
The Best Horror Movies Available to Stream for Halloween 2024
Shohei Ohtani 50-50 home run ball: Auction starts with lawsuit looming
US Open player compensation rises to a record $65 million, with singles champs getting $3.6 million
George Clooney and Amal Clooney Reveal What Their Kids Think of Their Fame
Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz Hit Paris Fashion Week in Head-Turning Outfits
Torrential rains flood North Carolina mountains and create risk of dam failure