Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, October 10
India expressed its deep concern at the escalation of the conflict as a furious Russia retaliated for the bombing of the Crimean bridge with a barrage of lethal strikes against at least 10 cities in every region of Ukraine on Monday amid reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office as well several power plants were also hit. At least eight people were reportedly killed in the capital Kyiv alone.
Russia basically targeted civilian areas and energy infrastructure as air raid sirens sounded in every region of Ukraine, except Crimea for four hours.
A day earlier, retaliation was almost certain after Putin called the attack on the Kerch Bridge a terrorist act by Ukrainian special services.
In response to media queries on the escalation of conflict, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We reiterate that escalation of hostilities is in no one’s interest. We urge immediate cessation of hostilities and the urgent return to the path of diplomacy and dialogue. India stands ready to support all such efforts aimed at de-escalation.”
“India has consistently maintained since the beginning of the conflict that the global order is anchored in the principles of the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states,” he added.
Putin said the Russian military launched precision weapons from the air, sea and ground to target key energy and military command facilities and warned that Moscow’s response will be “tough and proportionate to the level of threats” if Ukraine launched more such attacks.
Some strikes in downtown Kyiv in the morning hit the symbolic heart of the capital. For the next four hours, missiles rained down on a total of 10 cities, including Kharkiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi and Zhytomyr knocking out electricity and water supply in many of them. Three of the cruise missiles launched from Russian ships in the Black Sea crossed Moldova’s airspace.
The Ukrainian President in a video address said the targets were civilian areas and energy facilities in 10 cities. The General Staff of the Ukraine Armed Forces said 75 missiles were fired against Ukrainian targets, with 41 of them neutralised by air defences.
Zelenskyy said on his Telegram account that Russia is “trying to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth”.
The West will chalk out a response when the G-7 bloc meets via video conference on Tuesday which Zelenskyy will address.
Ukrainian Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba broke off his Africa tour and headed back to Ukraine while all schools in Ukraine switched to online classes until the end of the week
Meanwhile, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had ordered troops to deploy alongside Russian fighters near Ukraine due to a clear threat to Minsk from Kyiv and its backers in the West. “Strikes on the territory of Belarus are not just being discussed in Ukraine today, but are also being planned,” he said.