Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN
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Russia launched its largest missile wave Attacks on Ukrainian cities In just over a month on Tuesday — hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a peace plan to world leaders at the G-20 summit in Indonesia.
Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine Soon after, its leader put together a 10-point plan, including the withdrawal of Russian forces and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The strikes targeted energy infrastructure in several regions of the country, leaving more than seven million Ukrainians without power and the electricity supply in critical condition, according to senior Ukrainian officials.
The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that 15 facilities of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were damaged during the Russian missile strikes, but that Ukrainian air defenses shot down 70 of the more than 90 missiles fired at Ukraine.
One or two missiles also reportedly hit a farm in Poland near the border with Ukraine, killing two people, according to Polish media. It is unclear where the projectiles came from, but they landed around the same time as a Russian missile attack on western Ukraine.
Two shells reportedly hit Poland around the same time as Russia’s attack on Ukraine, with Polish media showing a picture of a deep ram and an overturned agricultural vehicle at the site, near the town of Przyodo.
A government spokesman said Prime Minister Mateusz Moraviki had called the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on National Security and Defense Affairs.
A NATO official told CNN that Poland is a NATO member state, and that the defense alliance is looking into the matter.
Our NATO colleagues, the United States and the United Kingdom, remained cautious in their statements about the incident.
A senior White House official said they had no confirmation that any rocket or missile attack had taken place in Poland, but that US officials are currently working to try to find out exactly what happened.
In turn, Zelensky blamed Russia for the incident, which was echoed by NATO member Latvia. “Terror is not confined to our national borders,” Zelensky said in his daily address.
Amid speculation as to the source of the projectiles, the Russian Defense Ministry denied responsibility, saying that “there were no strikes on targets near the Ukrainian-Polish state border”. Nor did the Polish authorities confirm the fall of Russian missiles in its territory.
The Russian strikes targeted at least a dozen cities and regions in Ukraine, according to a CNN analysis of the missile strikes. The strike wave appears to be the largest since October 10, when Russia stepped up its campaign to destroy electricity, water and gas infrastructure across Ukraine.
In a video message posted to Telegram on Tuesday evening local time, Zelensky said there have been 85 missile attacks against Ukraine so far, and warned there could be more to come.
He said: “We can see what the enemy wants, they will not succeed.” “We may have another 20 raids, please take care of yourselves, and stay in shelter for a while.”
In the capital Kyiv, the city’s military department said one person was killed. She added that two explosions were heard, and residents were ordered to stay in shelters. It added that four missiles were shot down.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said afterwards that there was a third strike. “Another strike in the Pechersk region of the city of Kyiv. A high-rise building,” said Klitschko.
The power supply to many Ukrainian regions was cut off as a result of the missile strikes.
State energy supplier Okenergo said the Russians were “trying to turn off the lights in the country again”.
She added, “The attack is still continuing, and we cannot yet estimate the full extent of the damage. There are strikes on our infrastructure in all regions of the country, but the most difficult situation is in the northern and central regions.”
In his video message, Zelensky said that the authorities are working to restore power. “We will hold on,” he said.
Additionally, “the country is currently experiencing significant internet disruption,” according to Netblocks, which tracks worldwide cybersecurity and connectivity, with connectivity down 67% from previous levels.
Andrej Spino, Moldova’s deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister, said on Tuesday that neighboring Moldova had also suffered power outages in the wake of Russia’s strikes on Ukraine.
Spino said in a post on his Telegram account that “after Russia bombed the Ukrainian energy system,” one of the power lines carrying electricity to Moldova was disconnected. He added that the authorities are working to restore contact with the line, which was not damaged, but was cut as a security measure.
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky put forward a proposal to end the Russian invasion, according to a transcript released on Tuesday by Ukraine’s embassy in Indonesia.
The president’s peace plan consists of 10 steps, including a path to nuclear safety, food security, a special court for Russian war crimes, and a final peace treaty with Russia, according to the text of the speech.
He urged the G20 leaders to use all their might to “make Russia abandon nuclear threats” and implement a cap on the price of energy imported from Moscow.
Zelensky also called on Russia to stop bombing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
He said, “Let Russia prove by rejecting terrorism that it is truly interested in restoring peace.”
Moscow was isolated at this year’s G20 summit as several Western leaders vowed not to have any contact with its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, who is attending on behalf of the Kremlin.
World leaders condemned the strikes on Tuesday. At the summit, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a tweet that the attacks targeting Ukrainian cities “only show the weakness of Putin”, who is “losing on the battlefield – and as we saw today at the G20 – diplomatically too”.
“At the moment we are again hearing about brutal Russian missile attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and elsewhere, especially again on civilian infrastructure,” German Foreign Minister Analina Berbock said during Tuesday’s remarks with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Head of Rafael Grossi in Berlin.
It added that the attack “is also an unprecedented attack on nuclear safety and nuclear security.”