The Kyiv Independent’s Chris York sat down with author, historian, and Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany in World War II, are one of the country’s biggest public events of the year. President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland Andrej Lushnycky who sheds some light on the things Putin would rather you didn’t know about World War II.
Washington’s involvement may also help mitigate political opposition in Europe, while giving the U.S. strategic visibility over future Russian energy flows, sources told Reuters.
The agreement, signed on April 30, establishes a joint investment fund between Kyiv and Washington and grants the U.S. special access to projects developing Ukraine's natural resources.
First responders are working on the site of a Russian missile strike on Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, on April 28, 2023. (Ukraine's Interior Ministry/Telegram)
Russian forces launched yet another large-scale missile strike against Ukraine in the early hours of April 28, killing at least 19 civilians and injuring 24 more.
Ukraine's air defenses destroyed 21 of the 23 X-101 and X-555 cruise missiles as well as two drones that Russia had launched using strategic Tu-95 aircraft from the Caspian Sea, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
In central Ukraine's city of Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, the Russian strike hit a 9-story apartment building and a warehouse.
As of 3 p.m. local time, 17 people are known to be killed and nine hospitalized, according to Interior Ministry. In total, eighteen people were injured, the State Emergency Service wrote. The number of casualties is not final and will be updated as the rescue operation is ongoing.
Russian troops hit a private house, an enterprise, and a construction base in Dnipro, killing a young woman and a two-year-old child, according to Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak. Four more civilians in the city were reportedly injured.
Kyiv Oblast Governor Ruslan Kravchenko said on Facebook that a high-rise building in the city of Ukrainka, located some 50 kilometers south of Kyiv, was damaged by the missile debris.
Two people were wounded, including a 13-year-old child who was transferred to a hospital in Kyiv, according to the Interior Ministry.
First responders are working on the site of a Russian missile strike on Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, on April 28, 2023. (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)
First responders are working on the site of a Russian missile strike on Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, on April 28, 2023. (Ukraine's Interior Ministry/Telegram)
The aftermath of a Russian missile strike on an enterprise in Ukraine's city of Dnipro on April 28, 2023. (Governor Serhii Lysak/Telegram)
An apartment in Ukrainka, Kyiv Oblast, damaged by Russian missile debris during a mass attack on April 28, 2023. (Ukraine's Interior Ministry/Telegram)
The aftermath of a Russian missile strike on Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, on April 28, 2023. (Ukraine's Interior Ministry/Telegram)
In Kyiv, local power lines in the Obolonskiy district were damaged by the attack, as well as road infrastructure. No civilian casualties or damage to residential buildings have been reported in the city.
President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the mass attack, saying that "Russian terror must receive a fair response from Ukraine and the world."
"Each such attack, each evil against our country and people, only brings the terrorist state closer to failure and punishment, not the other way around, as they think. We will not forget any crime, we will not allow any occupier to escape responsibility."
The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Ann Brink, reacted to the Russian attack on Twitter. "Russia still hasn't learned that its brutality only reinforces Ukrainian resolve and deepens our commitment to support Ukraine in the fight."
The U.K. ambassador Melinda Simmons also commented on the mass missile strike, saying she has friends in Uman who had to run from their apartment to save themselves.
"It shouldn't make last night's Russian air strikes feel worse than others but knowing people who are affected, inevitably, it does. That justice will come for these attacks is poor comfort right now, but I hold on to it."
Power grid operator Ukrenergo said that the Russian mass attack did not damage the country's energy infrastructure, hence no need for emergency power outages.
Since October, Russia has carried out repeated nationwide missile strikes against Ukraine that resulted in serious damage to the country's critical energy infrastructure and killed dozens of civilians.
Russia's previous mass attack took place on March 9, killing at least six people and injuring at least seven. Numerous energy infrastructure sites were targeted.
Dinara Khalilova is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a news editor. In the early weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion, she worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News’ team in Ukraine. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master’s degree in media and communication from the U.K.’s Bournemouth University.
Alexander Khrebet
