The Ukrainian Army confirms the launch of more than 30 Russian missiles against kyiv, the west and the south of the country that have caused cuts in supplies
Olaf Scholz stresses that the reconstruction of Ukraine will be a great task for “the entire international community” that will require funding for decades
Ukraine has activated this Saturday the widespread air alert after the Ukrainian Army reported the launch of more than thirty Russian missiles against the capital Kyivas well as against multiple regions in the west and south of the country, which have seen significant damage to their water and electricity infrastructure.
The Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reported that Russia has started “a massive attack” around 07.00with at least ten Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic aircraft from the Volgodonsk district of the Rostov region, which launched 17 Kh-101 (Kh-555) cruise missiles.
Next, the Ukrainian air forces have confirmed the launch of another 16 Kalibr cruise missiles from Russian positions in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian Army has ensured that its air defense system has intercepted a total of 18 missilesfive of them directed to the capital.
The regions hit by the missiles extend from the west to the south of the country, starting with Lviv or Chernivtsi, as well as Volhynia, Rivne, Khmelnitsky, Kirovograd and Odessa.
Graves damage to energy infrastructure
The new attacks, which have provoked again suspensions in the electrical and water supply in the affected regions, have been denounced by the head of the office of the Ukrainian Presidency, Andrey Yermak.
“Okay, we will resist. The dream of the Russians to cause trouble in the rear and stop the liberation of Ukraine’s territories is a childish act,” Yermak said on his Telegram account.
In the Kyiv region has started around 08.30 a series of blackouts to stabilize power supply which will mean a maximum disconnection of four hours throughout this morning, although it could be repeated throughout the day.
Ukrenergothe electricity distribution network operator of Ukraine, has warned that the damages in energy infrastructures by today’s Russian attacks could even be more serious than those caused by the bombings registered between October 10 and 12.
In a statement, quoted by the Unian agency, the Ukrainian operator has indicated that its repair brigades will begin with the restoration as soon as the rescue teams of the State Emergency Service finish their work.
“The specialists of ‘Ukrenergo’ are taking all measures for the prompt restoration of electricity supply in the regions that were left without electricity,” it adds.
The affected areas include, in addition to kyiv, the kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Kirovohrad regions.
Scholz: “The reconstruction will be a great task for all of us”
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, underlined this Saturday in a video message that the reconstruction of Ukraine it will be a “big task” of “the entire international community” that it will require funding for decades.
“Rebuilding will be a big, big task. And we will have to invest a lot to make it work well. Ukraine cannot do it alone. The European Union cannot do it alone either. Only the international community as a whole, which is now supporting Ukraine, can do this. And he has to do it for a long time,” she said.
For this reason, he added, now it is important not only to determine in concrete terms “everything that needs to be done, where to invest, how reconstruction can be organized”, but also to think about “how that reconstruction can be financed by the international community for many, many years, even decades.
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Scholz recalled that every day images arrive of the “terrible destruction that Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing in that country”: towns, cities, highways, railway lines, power lines, hospitals, schools, libraries, universities. And he has lamented that “much of what has been built for centuries has already been destroyed in this war.”
The German chancellor has pointed out that answering all these questions is the objective of the international conference of experts for reconstruction convened for next Tuesday in Berlin by Germany as the country that exercises G7 rotating presidency and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in close collaboration with Ukraine. “It is about that now we send a sign of hope, amidst the horror of warthat things are getting better”, he indicated.