40 people injured in today’s strike on Ukraine. Russia does not want to end war, Zelenskyy says
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the massive attack by the Russian occupiers on civilian buildings in regions across Ukraine "absolute depravity." The scale of the bombardment shows that Russia has no real intention of ending the war.
The head of state said this in a video address on March 24, Censor.NET reports.
Record Russian attack
"Today, in effect, Russia has been striking Ukraine with Shaheds around the clock since the night. There was a massive strike at night: both missiles and Shaheds. Throughout the day, there were new waves of drones. More than 550 drones of various types were used during the day alone, a significant number of them Shaheds. The geography of this strike is very broad. And although most of the drones were shot down — certainly more than 500 were downed — there were still hits, unfortunately, in Lviv, Frankivsk, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, as well as in Khmelnytskyi region, Rivne region, Kharkiv region, and Dnipropetrovsk region. Unfortunately, there are fatalities. My condolences to the families and loved ones. As of now, more than 40 people are known to have been injured, including five children. All of them are receiving the necessary assistance," Zelenskyy said.
According to him, Ukraine’s energy sector was once again among the targets of the Russian military. "This is their main objective, they are continuing their operation to break Ukraine and our energy system."
There were also hits on ordinary residential buildings, with city centers targeted, including Lviv’s historic center.
"There was a fire in the buildings of St. Andrew’s Church in Lviv. The history of this church dates back to the early 17th century. Iranian Shaheds, modified by Russia, are striking a church in Lviv — this is absolute depravity, and only people like Putin could enjoy this. In Frankivsk, a maternity hospital was damaged," Zelenskyy noted.
Russia does not want the war to end
The scale of this attack very clearly shows that Russia has no real intention of ending this war, the president stressed.
"If we take into account that Russia is also helping the Iranian regime carry out strikes across the entire region, the conclusion is quite obvious: without additional and strong pressure on Russia, without tangible Russian losses there, in Moscow, they will have no desire to move away from war and somehow get used to peace again," he added.
Background
- On March 24, the Air Force warned about a large number of UAVs in various regions of Ukraine. As of 7 p.m., air defense had neutralized 541 drones. In total, the enemy launched 948 Shaheds over the 24-hour period.
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During the day, the Russians attacked Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia region, and Zhytomyr. There were fatalities and injuries, while residential buildings and medical facilities were damaged.
