Kiev – Russian forces fired at least seventy rockets in another massive missile attack in Ukraine. So said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 10, the day of a new missile attack against civilian targets in the country.
“The enemy launched at least seventy missiles today in another massive attack. At least sixty missiles shot down. Their targets were civilians, civilian infrastructure. Unfortunately, there were hits. Unfortunately, there are victims. My condolences to the family!” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, reports his press service.
The head of Ukraine also pointed out that several Russian missiles passed through the airspace of Moldova and Romania.
“Another proof that terror knows no borders and never will be. Another proof that the defense of Ukraine is the defense of all of Europe and of the world, of every country that just wants to live,” said said the Ukrainian president.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also noted that today’s missiles are a challenge for NATO and collective security. According to him, it is a terror that can and must be stopped.
He urged citizens to pay attention to air raid signals and follow official information, and also expressed his gratitude to the Ukrainian Air Force, anti-aircraft gunners and all those who protect Ukraine. and Ukrainians.
Sea and air missile launches
The Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its Facebook page notes that on February 10, the enemy launched a massive missile attack against critical infrastructure in Ukraine.
“From the air, the enemy attacked with eight Tu-95ms strategic bombers that fired Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles from the Caspian Sea and Volgodonsk.
Black Sea Ships – Caliber-type sea-based cruise missiles.
At 11:30 a.m., the enemy carried out 71 Kh-101, Kh-555 and Caliber cruise missile launches, including night launches.
It says that the air defense forces and assets of the Air Force and other components of the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed 61 cruise missiles and 5 Shahed-136/131 suicide drones.
Media: Rockets crossed the borders of Romania and Moldova
Ukrainian publications also write that during the massive attack, two Russian missiles crossed the border of Ukraine with Moldova, then with Romania, after which they returned to Ukrainian airspace. This was reported by the LB.ua website, citing a statement by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny in the Telegram Channel.
“Today, February 10, at 10:18 a.m., two Russian-caliber cruise missiles crossed Ukraine’s state border with the Republic of Moldova. At around 10:33 a.m., these missiles crossed Romanian airspace. After that, they again entered the airspace of Ukraine at the point of intersection of the borders of three states. The missiles were launched from the Black Sea,” he said.
At the same time, the European site Pravda cites a message from the Romanian Ministry of Defense, which notes that “the aerial surveillance system of the Romanian Air Force detected on February 10 an aerial target launched from the Black Sea from a Russian army vessel. Russian near the Crimean Peninsula.
The ministry confirmed that the missile never crossed Romanian airspace.
“The closest point of the target’s trajectory in Romanian airspace was detected by radar systems about 35 kilometers northeast of the border,” the statement said.
Other Missile Incidents
TSN reports that on November 15, 2022, during a massive Russian missile attack on energy facilities in Ukraine, one of the missiles fell on the territory of the Polish village of Przevodov, located 5 km from the Ukrainian border. As a result, two Polish citizens were killed, who were on a farm where the rocket hit.
After the Russian rocket attack on Ukraine on December 5, 2022, Moldovan border police officers found rocket fragments in the Briceni region of the republic.
The Moldovan edition of NewsMaker noted on December 5 that “in an orchard near Briceni, a border police patrol discovered a missile. In accordance with the action plan of the Ministry of the Interior, the area has been cordoned off and they are awaiting the arrival of the specialized services of the Ministry of the Interior, sappers and rescuers”, underlined the Ministry of the Interior of Moldova.
On the territory of the Brest region of Belarus, according to UNIAN, citing the monitoring group “Belarusian Gayun”, on December 29, 2022, a rocket, previously launched from the S-300 air defense system, fell.
On January 14, 2023, Moldovan authorities also reported the discovery of rocket fragments in the north of the country, without specifying their identity.
Energy is Russia’s main focus
According to Ukrenergo, Russia’s main target during the fourteenth massive missile strike was power plants and high-voltage grid facilities.
“The geography of defeats corresponds to the eastern, western and southern regions of Ukraine. The most difficult situation is now in the Kharkiv region. Emergency shutdowns are in progress. Network restrictions due to the attack are in effect in the Khmelnytsky region, and also remain in the Odessa and Kiev regions,” Ukrenergo reports on his Facebook page.
According to the company, the country’s energy system deficit is significant.
“In other regions, consumption coverage is gradually returning within certain limits,” Ukrenergo points out.
According to the correspondent of the Russian service “media” from Kiev, on February 10, at least three rounds of air raid signals sounded in the capital of the country. At the end of the working day in some areas of the city, power cuts occurred in homes and streets.
Rocket attack or act of desperation
Pavel Zhovnirenko, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Strategic Studies, believes that the tactics of Russian missile attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine can be explained by the lack of success on the fronts.
“I won’t say it’s an act of desperation, but it really looks like it: winter is already coming to an end, moreover, the support of Western countries, the Ramstein summit and the support of Zelenskyyy during his visit to Europe hardly gives the Kremlin reason for joy”, – said Pavel Zhovnirenko to the correspondent of the Russian service of media.
He notes that effective opposition to Russian missile strikes depends on the weapons Western countries have recently transferred to Ukraine.
“Now it would be possible to resist effectively if Ukraine received in January last year the weapons that we [сейчас] transmitted to Western countries. And if we had received these weapons at that time, there would certainly have been no invasion. And we had to provide more both in terms of nomenclature and quantity, and at the same time, I always add, we should not have parted with the weapons that we had left from the Union, ”emphasizes Pavel Zhovnirenko.
According to him, Ukrainian gunsmiths, military scientists, create interesting samples of weapons that need to be mass-produced.
“Brand Name” of Russia
According to political scientist Oleksandr Paliy, Russian attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure look more like shipwreck in the context of failure to achieve military objectives on the battlefield.
“It’s like a trademark of Russia, Russian policy now and always is to harm all of its neighbours. The Kremlin understands that they cannot hit military targets, and therefore they hit the most sensitive civilian targets, the energy infrastructure,” Alexander Paly told the media Russian Service correspondent.
He believes that Ukraine, with the help of Western partners, has found an opportunity to quickly restore energy facilities.
“It’s hard, arduous work, with sophisticated equipment, but there is Western help and it solves a lot of things. In addition, the European Union recently announced that it will help Ukraine with the supply of two gigawatts of electricity. I hope that this project will be launched and then these bombardments of the energy infrastructure will be meaningless, “said Alexander Paliy.
The political scientist notes that strikes against civilian objects are a manifestation of hatred on the part of the Russian Federation, to which the Ukrainian people will give a dignified response on the battlefield.
