During the past week, the Russian military carried out 62 air attacks on the territory of Ukraine, as well as 30 missile strikes and about 425 – from rocket salvo systems.
As he conveys Censor. NO with reference to Ukrinform, this was stated by the deputy permanent representative of Ukraine to international organizations in Vienna, Nataliya Kostenko, during the meeting of the OSCE Security Cooperation Forum.
She emphasized that the leadership of the Russian Federation “still has not given up on the crazy and impossible idea of absorbing Ukraine, erasing its statehood and destroying its people.”
“Today marks the 350th day of the war and heroic struggle of the people of Ukraine against the Russian invaders. The enemy does not stop trying to advance and capture the entire territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Currently, fighting continues in the Kupyansk, Lymansk, Avdiivsk and Novopavlovsk directions, and the most difficult situation is observed in the Bakhmut area. Despite the numerical superiority of the Russian troops, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are holding the defense against the aggressor, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy,” Kostenko noted.
Not getting any victories on the battlefield, the Russian troops continue to strike numerous targets on civilian objects, she stated. The widespread use of unguided weapons such as missiles and aerial bombs by Russian forces is causing significant casualties and destroying critical civilian infrastructure.
“In total, in just one week after the last meeting of the Forum on Security Cooperation, Russian forces carried out 30 missile strikes, 62 air strikes and about 425 strikes with the use of multiple rocket launchers. Numerous Ukrainian cities turned into ruins and a terrible number of civilian casualties are shocking consequences of the cowardly attacks of the Russian troops,” said the deputy ambassador of Ukraine.
Separately, Kostenko reminded that in three days, on February 11, it will be one year since Ukraine activated the mechanism of consultations and cooperation in the OSCE regarding unusual military activities in accordance with the Vienna Document of 2011. Which, however, was cynically ignored by Russia.
“A year ago, the Russian delegation denied plans to invade. They lied to our faces that they were conducting routine purely defensive military exercises. They had the audacity to accuse the future victim of being a threat. Looking back, we can clearly see how cold-blooded and insidious the Kremlin regime was preparing for war against Ukraine, spreading lies and shifting the blame,” the Ukrainian diplomat said.
She added that the propagandists from the Russian delegation to the OSCE still did not admit that it was the Russian Federation that started this war. “Ukraine is a peaceful state that has never threatened anyone. However, the people of Ukraine are ready to fight to the end. Ukraine will not give up any of its territory,” Kostenko stressed.