KYIV — Missile strikes hit cities across
Ukraine on Tuesday and prompted mass power outages, a few days after a Russian
retreat in the nation’s south and in the middle of the G20 summit.
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The fresh bombardment, which officials said struck
residential buildings in Kyiv, interrupted Ukrainian jubilation over the
recapture of the key city of Kherson.
Lviv in the west and Kharkiv in the east were also
attacked on Tuesday, authorities said, but there was no immediate information
on possible casualties.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced the attack
following reports that air raid sirens were sounding across all Ukraine’s
regions, saying at least half of Kyiv’s residents were without power.
“According to preliminary information, two
residential buildings were hit in the Pechersk district,” he said adding that
“several missiles were shot down ... by air defense systems.
The deputy head of the president’s office
Kyrylo Tymoshenko said the missiles had been fired by Russian forces.
He distributed footage of the apparent scene of the
attacks, showing a blaze at a Soviet-era, five-story residential building.
“The danger has not passed. Stay in shelters,” he
added in the statement online.
The attacks came after Russian-appointed officials
in Nova Kakhovka said they were exiting the important southern city, blaming
artillery fire from Kyiv forces, which have been reclaiming swathes of the
south after a Russian retreat.
Ukraine forces since September have been pushing
deeper into the south and Russia announced last week a full withdrawal from the
regional capital of the southern Kherson region, allowing Ukraine to enter.
The loss of Kherson was the latest in a string of
setbacks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 hoping for a
lightning takeover that would topple the government in days.
NATO Secretary General
Jens Stoltenberg nonetheless
cautioned that Ukraine was facing difficult months ahead and said that Russia’s
military capability should not be underestimated.
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