Russian forces unleashed a massive attack on Ukraine’s gas network as the Kyiv regime’s new vulnerability was laid bare.
After the US withdrew military aid and stopped sharing intelligence with Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, Moscow shut down Ukraine’s energy supplies and pushed through its positions in Kursk.
The onslaught overnight on Thursday prompted Mr Zelensky to issue a desperate appeal for ‘silence in the skies’ that would ban ‘the use of missiles, long-range drones and aerial bombs’.
Referring to the ‘massive attack’, which continued into yesterday, he said: ‘In total, the Russians used nearly 70 missiles, both cruise and ballistic, as well as almost 200 attack drones. All of this was directed against infrastructure that ensures normal life.’
The offensive triggered Ukraine’s first use of Mirage 2000 jets provided by France.
It comes as the Kyiv leadership is no longer able to observe Russian troop movements behind the frontlines and faces rationing air defence missiles following the White House’s shock intervention.
The US insists its cessation of aid and intelligence blockade will only last until Ukraine makes a ‘true commitment to a path to peace’. Kyiv hopes that the US could resume its support following ceasefire talks in Saudi Arabia next week.
At least 18 people, including four children, were wounded in Russian airstrikes yesterday, with at least one fatality in a strike on Kostiantynivka in the east.
A Ukrainian woman cries in front of the body of her father after being rescued from under the rubble of their home, after a Russian bombardment of the city of Kostiantynivka on March 7
Ukrainian emergency rescue workers carry the body of a man lying in the rubble of his home
Firefighters conduct extinguishing work after eight civilians were injured in Russian missile attack on residential area in Kharkiv on March 7
Ukrainian emergency service firefighters extinguish a fire in a house after Russian shelling on the city of Kostiantynivka
Ukrainian emergency service firefighters extinguish a fire in garages in Kostiantynivka
Eight casualties occurred in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, after Russia struck a ‘critical infrastructure facility’. Seven people, including two girls aged three and four, were wounded in Slovyansk, also in eastern Ukraine, in a strike that hit 30 buildings.
A factory near Kyiv and energy infrastructure in the southern port city of Odesa were also damaged. Gas supplies were also cut off in western Ukraine after a ‘critical industrial facility was struck in Ternopil’, local officials said. Energy firm Naftogaz confirmed its facilities were also hit.
In total, Russian forces launched 67 missiles and 194 drones. But in turn, Ukraine reportedly managed to shoot down 34 rockets and 100 drones.
Meanwhile in southern Russia, Kremlin forces broke through Ukrainian lines in Kursk, the province partially seized by Mr Zelensky’s forces last year.
Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Lykhoviy said it was the first combined Russian attack since the US stopped supplying military aid. The threat to western Ukraine led neighbouring Poland to scramble its aircraft, while its ground-based air defences were on the highest alert.
