Head of national security council says ‘more and more civilian targets’ being hit, after deadly Vinnytsia attack
A top Ukrainian official has accusedof deliberately escalating its deadly attacks on civilian targets, after recent missile strikes including this week’s targeting of the crowded city centre of Vinnytsia, which killed 23 people, including three children.
Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, told the Guardian that monitoring of Russian strikes suggested an increased emphasis in recent weeks on terrorising Ukraine’s civilian population. “We have a system to monitor and track all airstrikes and other attacks in our country and what we have noticed recently is a tendency to destroy more and more civilian targets. They have decided to terrorise civilian population. That’s not my emotions but what our monitoring is telling us.”While Russia has been accused of targeting civilians throughout its invasion of Ukraine, missile strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure appear to have increasingly become a distinct tactic with a string of deadly attacks over the past month. An attack on a shopping mall at Kremenchuk, a small city on the Dnieper river, at the end of June killed 18 people and injured 59. An apartment block and beach hotel in Serhiivka, 50km south of Odesa, was hit on 1 July, killing 21 people and injuring 35. Two apartment buildings in Chasiv Yar, near the frontline in Donetsk oblast, were hit on 9 July: 48 people are believed to have been killed, making it one of the deadliest single attacks in the entire five-month long war. Vinnytsia, a central city far from the frontlines, was struck on Thursday, five days later. Danilov suggested that some attacks – including during a visit by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to Kyiv – appeared designed to deliver a message of defiance. Thursday’s attack in Vinnytsia took place as European ministers sat down in The Hague to discuss how to hold Russia accountable for atrocities committed during its invasion of Ukraine. “We have an enemy that breaks all the rules of war and rejects international law so we cannot expect any better behaviour,” said Danilov. “What I am surprised by is the fact that a country that rejects international law is allowed to participate in international institutions to claim its ‘rights’.”, just as the G7 summit was beginning – and after an EU summit had just concluded – was interpreted as an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians and show that Russia did not fear the west. It was the first time the capital had been hit for three weeks. Dr Sidharth Kaushal, an analyst from the Rusi thinktank, said that Russia had used long-range missiles, capable of hitting anywhere in Ukraine, for two purposes: either “disrupting the flow of supplies to the frontline or the terrorisation of civilians”. Recent strikes, he added, “suggest an emphasis on the latter function both because their targets were clearly nonmilitary”. Some of the missiles used have been from the Soviet era – and used in a manner not intended by their original design. Kaushal said that at Kremenchuk, Russia used a AS-4 “kitchen’ anti-ship missile first deployed in the 1960s. Amnesty International said the same munition was used in the double missile strike in Serhiivka – indicating, Kaushal added, that “the goal is terror, not precision”. Ukraine’s missile defence systems are limited, with early warning capabilities lost in the early stages of the war. Its system of air raid warnings is largely ineffective, and sirens in cities outside conflict zones are rarely followed by attacks. To improve the situation, Kyiv has sought to obtain defence systems from the west – receiving limited supplies so far.At the beginning of July, the US promised to supply two US-Norwegian Nasams air defence systems, which operate with a range of about 20 miles, suitable for protecting Kyiv or another major population centre. But Russia’s recent wave of missile strikes have been focused on secondary or tertiary centres. Konrad Muzyka, a military analyst and director of Rochan Consulting, said he believed the increasing Russian strikes were linked to Ukraine’s use of longer-range multiple-launch rocket artillery systems, principally the newly arrived Himars truck-mounted battery from the US. “The more successful Ukrainians will be with their employment of Himars, the more likely Russians are to target civilians,” Muzyka said, arguing that Moscow’s tactics were in effect a crude attempt at deterrence, designed to weaken Kyiv’s desire to counterattack and kick the invaders out. Danilov rejected this interpretation. “You cannot connect the arrival of Himars with these strikes. Even if we did not have those systems they would still be terrorising and killing the civilian population so that linkage risks being a Russian narrative.” A security alert released overnight on Thursday, headlined Missile Threat Awareness, once again advised Americans to leave Ukraine. It added: “Avoid large gatherings and organised events as they may serve as Russian military targets anywhere in Ukraine, including its western regions.” The latest attacks have coincided with intercepted messages and social media posts by Russian servicemen and pro-Russia bloggers explicitly celebrating the strikes on Ukrainian civilians. On Friday Russia acknowledged it had targeted the centre of Vinnytsia, claiming the target was a meeting of Ukrainian officials and western arms dealers but without providing any evidence. Previously, pro-Kremlin sources had denied hitting Vinnytsia, claiming another town had been hit.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine war update: what we know on day 141 of the invasionTurkey announces deal with Ukraine, Russia and UN aimed at resuming grain exports; Ukraine rules out ceding territory to Russia as part of any ceasefire deal
Read more »
Russia is laying waste to the West's military support for UkraineWestern leaders for now seem prepared to accept any potential pitfall associated with helping Ukraine militarily - but this support will surely weaken as Russia's invasion slowly gathers strength, writes strategic policy analyst Professor Alexey Muraviev.
Read more »
Turkey announces deal with Ukraine, Russia and UN aimed at resuming grain exportsUN hails ‘critical step forward’ after meetings in Istanbul as Turkey says deal will be signed next week
Read more »
Get ready to turn off lights as Russia wages energy war, Macron warnsThe French President warns his country to prepare for a total cut-off of Russian natural gas and says France needs to spend more on its military as the Ukraine war rages.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war live: rescuers search for dozens missing in Vinnytsia attack; war overshadows G20 meetingAt least 23 people confirmed dead in Russian missile attack; Indonesia hopes to find common ground with finance ministers
Read more »