Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian airstrike hit his hometown of Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine Wednesday, killing at least eight people and wounding 21 others.
Zelenskyy shared a video taken by emergency services showing a man being carried on a stretcher and firefighters as billowing smoke rises from destroyed buildings. Among those damaged were an office building and an apartment block.
Meanwhile, officials in Russia’s Belgorod region said that Ukrainian shelling killed at least one person and wounded three others.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor, said on Telegram the attack hit the town of Shebekino, which is located close to the Ukraine border.
The shelling also damaged residential buildings, Gladkov said.
In Ukraine’s capital, officials said Wednesday that Russia attacked with cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Serhiy Popko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Telegram, Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed all the missiles and that initial information indicated there were no casualties or damage.
The attacks came a day after Zelenskyy addressed German lawmakers, speaking about Europe’s long history of war that has denied peace to generations of Europeans.
“That is why the dream of a Europe that must be a continent of culture, must be a continent of people, must be a continent without war, has gained so much strength,” he said.
“I personally have confidence in this kind of Europe,” Zelenskyy added.
The Ukrainian leader said Russian President Vladimir Putin must be held liable for Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“The time for compromises is over,” Zelenskyy said. “It was over exactly when Putin started burning cities and awarding his murderers. When he chose killings over agreements.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Zelenskyy spoke at a reconstruction conference hosted by Germany, where he stressed the need for air defenses and rebuilding Ukraine’s energy system. He said Russian drone and missile attacks have destroyed half of the country’s energy generation capacity since winter.
He said that after two years of war, Ukraine’s military has shown it can hold the front lines and maintain access to the Black Sea.
"Russia's greatest strategic advantage over Ukraine is superiority in the sky. It is missile and bomb terror that helps Russian troops advance on the ground," Zelenskyy said. "Air defense is the answer."
He said Ukraine expects to secure billions of dollars in aid for its military and infrastructure needs.
The conference in Berlin comes days ahead of a peace conference in Switzerland where 90 countries and organizations will work on a framework for carrying out a peace plan and how to involve Russia and Ukraine in a peace process.
Russia is not attending the talks in Switzerland.
Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
