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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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
