Violent missile strikes across Ukraine: the scale and possible consequences Despite record protests: French Senate votes for higher retirement age

Airstrikes were reported throughout Ukraine on Thursday night. Russian missiles hit residential buildings and critical infrastructure in the capital Kiev, the port city of Odessa or the city of Lviv in western Ukraine. Power was out in several areas. And the operators of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia and the international nuclear authority warn of global consequences.

A look at the missile inferno in the major centers:

General reports of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the events of the night on Telegram:

The Russians had returned to “their pathetic tactics,” Zelensky continued: “The occupiers can only terrorize the civilian population. That is all they are capable of.” But that won’t help them win the war, the 45-year-old said.

The Russian army has fired a total of 81 rockets at various cities in Ukraine, the president said. The Ukrainian state broadcaster has broken down the missiles by type – according to which they are almost exclusively Soviet-made weapons. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that 34 of the missiles fired were destroyed before they struck.

Because of the attacks, there was a nationwide power restriction at night. In the cities of Kharkiv and Zhytomyr, electricity was completely lost in some cases.

Kiev

According to the Ukrainian armed forces, an air-raid siren went off in Kiev for about seven hours at around 1:00 a.m. In the morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that at least one rocket had hit a residential building in the Sviatoschyn district – there were injuries. The mayor continues:

According to the Ukrainian newspaper “Suspilne”, several cruise missiles and apparently also a Russian Kinjal hypersonic missile flew on Kiev. This would have hit an infrastructure complex.

Lviv

At least five people have been killed after a rocket attack on a residential area in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, the head of the regional military administration, Maksym Kozytskyi, told Telegram. He writes of the dead:

The destroyed residential area can be seen in a drone video posted by Kozytskyi:

Kharkiv

On March 9, a series of explosions were heard in Kharkiv from 03:54 – two people were injured, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that the energy infrastructure in particular, but also a residential building, was attacked by the occupiers during the night.

The head of the state administration of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, reported:

Odessa

In the port city of Odessa, the siren went off at 1:55 am. Several missiles have hit the energy infrastructure, the head of the state administration of the Kharkiv region, Maksym Marchenko, announced on Facebook and Telegram. Residential areas were also hit, but there were no direct casualties.

Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia is home to the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The power plant was temporarily shut down because of bombs in the southern Ukrainian city, according to Energoatom, the power plant’s operator.

Energoatom warns that an “accident with radiation consequences for the entire world” could occur if the station’s external power supply is not renewed within ten days.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also concerned about the renewed failure of the regular power supply at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia. IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi spoke before the IAEA Executive Board on Thursday about the closure in Vienna. “Every time we roll the dice. And if we keep doing that, one day our luck will run out,” warned Grossi. It shouldn’t go on like this. It is high time to establish a safety zone around the power plant.

(jam/sda)