Russia Launches a New Barrage of Missiles on Ukrainian Energy Facilities

Destroyed buildings in the town of Seversk amid the Russian attack on Ukraine (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings in the town of Seversk amid the Russian attack on Ukraine (Reuters)
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Russia Launches a New Barrage of Missiles on Ukrainian Energy Facilities

Destroyed buildings in the town of Seversk amid the Russian attack on Ukraine (Reuters)
Destroyed buildings in the town of Seversk amid the Russian attack on Ukraine (Reuters)

At least two people were killed in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, in Russian shelling on Saturday afternoon, local officials said.

The shelling hit an area of “dense residential development”, according to city mayor Ihor Terekhov. He said that 18 people were wounded, along with the two dead reported by regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

Russia launched a new barrage of missiles and drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine, officials in Kyiv said Saturday, damaging energy facilities in the southeast and west and injuring at least two workers, The AP reported.

Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted 12 of the 16 missiles and all 13 drones launched by Russia, the air force said.

State-owned power grid operator Ukrenergo said the strikes damaged equipment at facilities in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and the western Lviv region.

Two energy workers were injured in Zaporizhzhia when a fire broke out at an energy facility, according to regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov.

With no major changes reported along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, where a recent push by the Kremlin’s forces in eastern and northeastern Ukraine has made only incremental gains, both sides have taken aim at infrastructure targets, seeking to curb each other’s ability to fight in a war that is now in its third year.



Russia Condemns Israel's Killing of Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's suburbs November 14, 2013. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan/File Photo
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's suburbs November 14, 2013. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan/File Photo
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Russia Condemns Israel's Killing of Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's suburbs November 14, 2013. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan/File Photo
Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Beirut's suburbs November 14, 2013. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan/File Photo

Russia strongly condemns Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the foreign ministry said on Saturday, calling on Israel to stop hostilities in Lebanon.

"This forceful action is fraught with even greater dramatic consequences for Lebanon and the entire Middle East," the ministry said in a statement.

Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday Nasrallah had been killed, issuing a statement hours after the Israeli military said it had eliminated him in an airstrike on the group's headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday.
Nasrallah's death marked a devastating blow to Hezbollah as it reels from an intense campaign of Israeli attacks, and even as the news emerged some of the group's supporters were desperately hoping that somehow he was still alive, Reuters reported.

"God, I hope it's not true. It's a disaster if it's true," said Zahraa, a young woman who had been displaced overnight from Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"He was leading us. He was everything to us. We were under his wings," she told Reuters tearfully by phone.
She said other displaced people around her fainted or began to scream when they received notifications on their phone of Hezbollah's statement confirming his death.
Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah since the group's previous leader was killed in an Israeli operation in 1992, was known for his televised addresses - watched carefully by both the group's backers and its opponents.
"We're still waiting for him to come out on the television at 5 p.m. and tell us that everything is okay, that we can go back home," Zahraa said.
In some parts of Beirut, armed men came into shops and told owners to shut them down, witnesses said. It was not immediately clear what faction the armed men belonged to.
Sprays of gunshots were heard in the Hamra district in the city's west as mourners fired in the air, residents there said. Crowds were heard chanting, "For you, Nasrallah!"