Zelenskyy urges tougher stand as Russian strikes hit Ukraine civilians

Zelenskyy condemned the world's muted response after fresh Russian strikes killed and wounded civilians across Ukraine. His appeal came as peace efforts stalled and attacks on both sides escalated ahead of winter.

In Short

• Overnight attacks killed two and injured seven across six Ukrainian regions
• UN recorded July as deadliest month for civilians since March 2022
• Kyiv residents described fires, smoke and trauma inside a damaged tower

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday criticised the international community for not taking a tougher stand against Russia as attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine intensify. His remarks came after fresh overnight strikes that Ukrainian officials said killed at least two people and wounded seven across six regions.

Zelenskyy said pressure on Moscow must increase as Russian missile and drone attacks continue, while the United States renewed its push for talks to end the fighting. The United Nations has said the rise in Russian aerial attacks led to the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine since March 2022, even as Washington said recent Ukraine-Russia talks were “substantive” but that much more work remained.

At the end of August, Russia launched a week of daytime and nighttime attacks on Kyiv in what was described as the heaviest sustained bombardment of the Ukrainian capital since its full-scale invasion began more than four years ago. Ukrainian officials say the missile and drone strikes have continued this month and are aimed at weakening civilian morale.

International sanctions on Russia and diplomatic efforts to isolate Moscow have not stopped the invasion, and Zelenskyy urged countries to increase the pressure. “Unfortunately, there has been too little response from the international community to these strikes, which are taking people's lives practically every day,” he said on social media. “But a response is needed - Moscow must not go into the winter believing that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences,” he said.

The United Nations said last month that increasing Russian aerial attacks killed or wounded more Ukrainian civilians in July than in any month since March 2022, with 437 killed and more than 2,600 wounded. Overall, more than 16,800 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 51,000 wounded since the Russian invasion, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

The United States has stepped up efforts to end the war, sending special envoys to Kyiv and Moscow over the weekend, though no major breakthrough has followed. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late on Tuesday that the Ukraine-Russia talks were “substantive”, but said much remained to be done.

In Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, four of the seven wounded were in a 22-storey residential building where a drone damaged the 11th floor and caused a fire on the 12th floor, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Olha Smal, 62, who lives on the 12th floor, said the blast wave threw her across her kitchen. One of her bedrooms caught fire and smoke quickly filled the flat, she said. Her pregnant neighbour was wounded. “You live one day at a time. You don't know what will happen to you tomorrow, or even what will happen today,” she told The Associated Press. “It's very, very hard.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces struck a drone factory warehouse in Kyiv. It also claimed attacks on fuel reservoirs and an electric substation in the southern port city of Mykolaiv. The ministry further said the military struck a ship heading to Odesa with military cargo and logistical facilities at Ukraine’s Starokozache border crossing with Moldova. Ukrainian authorities said the border strike killed two people.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was responding to Moscow’s attacks with daily long-range strikes on infrastructure deep inside Russia. He said the latest Ukrainian attack targeted Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port in Russia’s Krasnodar region, and hit a naval base, including a terminal used to load oil, military port facilities and warships carrying cruise missiles. Ukraine’s General Staff said the Novorossiysk naval base is a key hub for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, providing maintenance and logistical support for its ships.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said four people, including a child, were killed and 29 others were wounded in the drone attack on Novorossiysk. Russia’s Defence Ministry said air defences shot down 596 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday until early Wednesday. The latest exchanges underscored Zelenskyy’s call for a stronger international response as attacks continued on both sides and efforts to push forward talks showed little progress.

With PTI Inputs

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