At least 15 people were killed and 35, including a child, were injured in Russian bombing raids on areas of Kherson in southern Ukraine, according to a local official in the city that Kyiv recently regained control of, and about half of the capital’s residents. are still suffering from the effects of power cuts due to low temperatures during the winter season as a result of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. On the other hand, Russia says it only targets military infrastructure and blames the power cuts.
In addition, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine reported in the evening that a train left Kherson in the direction of Khmelnitsky, “with the first 100 citizens of Kherson who used the state evacuation, including 26 children, as well as seven bedridden patients and six disabled people.”
Earlier on Friday, the governor of the Kherson region announced the evacuation of patients from the city’s hospitals, with Yaroslav Yanushevich posting on social media: “Because of the ongoing Russian bombing, we are evacuating patients from Kherson hospitals.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “More than six million homes in Ukraine were affected by the power outage on Friday.” ”
In the face of Russian bombing, Ukraine has received air defense systems from the West, but it will need more to neutralize Moscow’s missiles and drones. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born confirmed in Berlin, along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, that Paris and Berlin “will support Ukraine until the end of this conflict.” “Born said.
For his part, the German chancellor said that “the policy of intimidating civilian infrastructure in Ukraine with Russian bombs must be stopped” and indicated that Germany and France are working to help Ukraine “rebuild its partially destroyed energy infrastructure.”
For its part, Russia says: “It only targets military infrastructure and blames the power outage on the Ukrainian air defense system. The Kremlin believed that Ukraine could end the suffering of its people by accepting Russia’s demands.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with military mothers for the first time on Friday, saying he shared their pain and urged them not to believe the “lie” about the terrorist attack in Ukraine.
Diplomatically, the Russian Foreign Ministry this week condemned a European Parliament resolution that called Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism.”
Commenting on Serbia’s proposal in Europe to join sanctions against Russia and recognize Kosovo’s independence, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called it “absurd”, noting that Europe was left with only a geographical reference to the continent. .
And she wrote in her Telegram account: “This is really funny, what is left of Europe in the European Union? Only geographic reference to the continent… Europe as a civilization is now preserved in Russia.”
