At least 11 people have been killed in the heavy shelling that Russia has directed at Ukrainian cities after the announcement of tank deliveries from Western countries, Reuters reports.
On Thursday, 26th of January, an air raid alert was announced throughout the territory of Ukraine. In Kyiv, residents sought shelter in the subway tunnels.
More than 60 towns were shelled and Ukraine’s military reported intercepting 47 of 59 missiles fired by Russia. The Russian military also carried out 37 airstrikes, 17 of them using Iranian-made drones. All drones were shot down. At least 35 buildings were damaged.
On Friday, the 27th of January, Japan increased sanctions against Russia in response to the aggressor’s strikes.
Strikes come in response to the Western announcement that tanks will be delivered to Ukraine. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal stated that Russia attacked power stations. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, informed that he had convened an emergency meeting on the restoration of the energy supply.
Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported strong explosions in the vicinity of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and has called for a safety zone. Renat Karchaa, the representative of Rosenergoatom, stated that such comments have no basis and are a provocation.
Missiles launched by Russia also damaged the energy infrastructure of Odesa. On the 25th of January, UNESCO granted Odesa status as the site of endangered cultural heritage. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who was in the city at the time of the Russian attack, said:
«What we saw today, new strikes on civilian Ukrainian infrastructure is not waging war, it’s waging war crimes.»
On the 26th of January, the USA declared the Russian mercenaries Wagner Group an international criminal organization and froze its assets.
Russia has changed its public stance since the beginning of the war, and the initial statements about the destruction of Nazism in Ukraine have been replaced by rhetoric about fighting against the aggressive policy of NATO expansion. Mykola Sunhurovskiy, a military analyst at the Razumkov Center, a think tank in Kyiv, said that Russia is thus trying to prepare the nation for greater sacrifices. Russia will have to focus its economy on financing the war, and it is possible that martial laws will be declared in Russia.
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