Massive Russian drone, missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 6 people, officials say
Kyiv, (AP): Russia launched a wide drone and missile attack across Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least six people, Ukrainian officials said, a day after US President Donald Trump put his planned meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on hold, saying he didn't want it to be a “waste of time.”
Ukraine's energy minister said a “massive combined overnight attack” on Ukraine's energy infrastructure was still underway early Wednesday — the latest in Russia's effort to cripple the country's energy system before winter. At least 18 people were injured in the attack, said Kyiv administration head Tymur Tkachenko.
The attack caused emergency power blackouts across the country, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said. Repairs were underway where possible and electricity would be restored “as soon as possible,” it said.
“Another night that proves Russia does not feel enough pressure for prolonging the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement.
He said the strike caused damages in the cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, as well as Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, and the wider regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Sumy.
Pressuring Russia
Zelenskyy urged the European Union, the United States and the Group of Seven industrialised nations, or G7, to take steps to sanction Russia.
“It is very important that the world does not remain silent now and that there is a united response to Russia's treacherous strikes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Army General Staff said the country's forces struck a chemical plant in Russia's Bryansk region late on Tuesday night using air-to-surface Storm Shadow missiles. The plant is an important part of the Russian military and industrial complex producing gun powder, explosives, missile fuel and ammunition.
Relentless attacks
In the Kyiv region, rescuers discovered the bodies of three people — including two children — after a strike set a private house ablaze in the village of Pohreby, regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk said. According to him, the victims were a woman and her two daughters — an infant of 6 months and a 12-year-old girl.
“Their bodies were found at the site of the fire," the governor said. "This is a tragedy for the entire community, for the Kyiv region, and for the country.”
Two more people were found dead in the Dnipro district of the Ukrainian capital, where emergency services rescued 10 people after a fire caused by drone debris hit the sixth floor of a 16-storey residential building, local authorities said.
The attack also blew out windows of a medical facility and debris was found at another residential building, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on his Telegram channel.
In the Darnytskyi district of the capital, emergency services were responding after drone debris hit a 17-storey residential building causing a fire on five floors. Fifteen people had to be rescued, including two children.
In the Desnianskyi district, 20 people were rescued after the facade of a 10-story building was damaged and a gas pipe caught fire. Debris from a drone also fell on a dormitory building and rescue workers were headed to the scene, Klitschko said.
The large-scale overnight aerial attack also targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia and the port city of Izmail in the southern Odesa region.
An “energy object” in Odesa region suffered “extensive damages” according to DTEK, Ukraine's biggest private energy operator. The company also said Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions experience emergency blackouts.
Following the blackouts, Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said that “as soon as security conditions allow, energy workers will begin assessing the consequences of the attack and carrying out repair work.”
What's ahead
On Wednesday, Trump is expected to hold talks at the White House with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The military alliance has been coordinating deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, many of them purchased from the United States by Canada and European countries.
The decision to postpone the meeting in Budapest, Hungary — which Trump had announced last week — followed a call Monday between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The Russian diplomat made clear in public remarks Tuesday that Moscow opposes an immediate ceasefire.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is seeking to purchase 25 Patriot air defence systems from US firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said acquiring them would take time because of long production time but added that he has spoken to Trump about help procuring them more quickly, potentially from European partners.
Earlier this month, Russia carried out its largest attack of the war on natural gas facilities operated by Ukraine's state-owned Naftogaz Group, launching 381 drones and 35 missiles, according to Ukraine's air force. Officials said the strikes were part of an effort to cripple the country's power grid ahead of winter.
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Acts preceding actual partial penetration without ejaculation is attempt to rape: Chhattisgarh HC
Bilaspur (PTI): Noting that the act of the convict preceded the actual partial penetration but without ejaculation, the Chhattisgarh High Court has reduced the seven-year sentence awarded by a trial court to a man in a 2004 rape case and convicted him for attempted rape instead.
Partially accepting the accused's appeal, the High Court has reduced the convict's sentence to three years and six months' rigorous imprisonment. A fine of Rs 200 was imposed.
"The proof of penetration, even if partial, is necessary to prove rape. The evidence available in the present case does not prove complete rape, but it does prove that the accused attempted rape. The evidence available in the present case does not prove complete rape, but it does prove that the accused attempted rape," Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas stated in the order on February 16.
Additional Sessions Judge, Dhamtari (Camp-Raipur), had convicted Vasudeo Gond on April 6, 2005, under section 376(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment.
He was also sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 342 IPC. Both sentences were to run concurrently.
Gond had lured the victim, a resident of Dhamtari district, to his house on May 21, 2004, under some pretext, and raped her.
He locked her in a room and tied her hands and feet. A case was registered at the Arjuni police station.
The prosecution examined 19 witnesses during the trial.
In her statement, the victim had claimed forced sexual intercourse by the accused. However, during cross-examination, she gave contradictory statements regarding penetration.
Medical examination revealed an intact hymen, but the possibility of partial penetration was raised. The FSL report also found human sperm in some samples.
The High Court noted that the victim's statement lacked clarity regarding penetration. The medical evidence also failed to establish complete penetration. Citing various Supreme Court decisions, the single-judge bench stated that proof of penetration, even if partial, is necessary to prove rape.
"The evidence of the victim is corroborated with the medical evidence brought on record by the prosecution and law on the subject. It is quite vivid that an offence of attempt to commit rape is made out against the appellant, as there is partial penetration by the appellant.
"As such, the act of the appellant forcibly taking the victim inside the room, closing the doors with the motive of carnal knowledge, was the end of ‘preparation’ to commit the offence. His following action of stripping the victim and himself, and rubbing his genitals against those of the victims and partial penetration, which was indeed an endeavour to commit sexual intercourse," the HC stated.
It said the acts of the appellant were deliberately done with manifest intention to commit the offence aimed at and were reasonably proximate to the consummation of the offence.
"Since the acts of the appellant exceeded the stage beyond preparation and preceded the actual partial penetration but without ejaculation, the appellant is guilty of attempting to commit rape as punishable within the ambit and scope of Section 511 read with Section 375 IPC as it stood in force at the time of occurrence," the HC stated.
The HC convicted Gond under sections 376 (1) and 511 of the IPC, instead of section 376, and sentenced him to three years and six months' rigorous imprisonment. The six-month sentence under Section 342 was upheld. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The bench ordered that the sentence already undergone by the accused be set off.
It cancelled the bail of the accused and directed him to surrender before the trial court within two months, failing which action for his arrest would be initiated.
