Russia attacks 118 settlements within 24 hours in most extensive shelling, Ukraine says

Europe, News November 2, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Ukraine has reported that Russia shelled more than 118 settlements in Ukraine in 24 hours, marking one of the largest attacks carried out in a single day. Russia’s wave of strikes hit towns and villages near the city of Kharkiv, in the southeastern part of Ukraine.

According to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Igor Klymenko, Russia unleashed a barrage of shells and rockets across the eastern region of Ukraine on Wednesday. “Over the last 24 hours, the enemy shelled 118 settlements in 10 regions,” Klymenko said in a social media post. “This is the highest number of cities and villages that have come under attack since the start of the year,” he added.

Local authorities reported that the attacks were largely concentrated around the city of Kharkiv, near the border of Russia. According to initial reports, at least one person was killed in the Kharkiv region while another death was reported in southeastern Kherson.

A Russian drone strike on the southern city of Nikopol also killed a 59-year-old woman and injured four people. Kyiv also reported that a Russian strike on an oil refinery in Kremenchukhad caused a huge fire, however, no casualties were reported as a result of it. The author took hours to extinguish the fire.

Russia also claimed that Ukraine carried out attacks using drones, and said that the drones were shot down. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had shot down two Ukrainian drones over the regions of Bryansk and Kursk, which border Ukraine.

Russian drones detonated at Danube port — *^{Firefighters at the scene after Russian drones detonated at the port facility near Danube river, in Ukraine. (Image Credit: Twitter/@DefenceU)}*

Ukraine and its Western partners, such as the United States, are worried that Russia plans to destroy Ukraine’s energy-producing infrastructure and push the war into the conclusive stages as the winter approaches.

One of Ukraine’s top generals, Valery Zaluzhny recently said in an interview that the conflict is moving towards a state of attrition and that Ukraine will need new technology and larger army reserves to meet its goals.

Zelenskyy warns allies not to expect ‘instant success’ against Russia

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his military has made significant progress in the war by attacking the Russian Navy in the Black Sea which crippled Moscow’s war efforts. However, he warned his Western allies not to expect instant success against Russia as he urged his partners for more support.

“We live in a world that gets used to success too quickly. When the full-scale invasion began, many people around the world did not believe that Ukraine would survive,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Zelensky said his troops have succeeded in diminishing Moscow’s military strength in the Black Sea, which he said with greater support from Kyiv’s allies could lead to Ukraine’s ultimate victory over Russia.