Horror and fear struck the village of Groza, in the east of the country, on Thursday. 51 people including a child were killed by a Russian strike on the sidelines of the funeral of a Ukrainian soldier. The day after this strike, Moscow claimed to have shot down eight Ukrainian drones in western Russia on Thursday evening without mentioning any possible damage or injuries.
A new Russian bombing on Friday, which hit residential buildings in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, on the border with Russia, killed a 10-year-old child and his grandmother and injured at least 28 people , according to the Ukrainian authorities.
Zelensky believes that Moscow will try to “destroy” Ukraine’s electricity system this winter
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky estimated this Friday that Russia will try this winter to “destroy” his country’s electricity system, like last year when it increased massive bombings on essential infrastructure.
“This winter, Russian terrorists will again try to destroy our electricity system,” Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily message on social media, adding that Ukrainian officials were “fully aware of the danger.”
He added that Ukrainians were preparing for “protection of production facilities and the provision of electricity and heat, restoration of everything damaged by the strikes.”
Russia: the ruble continues to fall, Putin wants to be reassuring
The ruble continued its fall that began at the start of the week on Friday, trading at more than 101 to the dollar, the day after Vladimir Putin’s declarations on the “stable” economic situation in the country. The ruble, under the effect of international sanctions because of the assault on Ukraine, has been struggling for months, weighing in particular on the purchasing power of the population.
On Tuesday, the ruble already briefly exceeded 100 per dollar, an unprecedented fall since mid-August which occurred for only the second time since March 2022 and the collapse of the Russian currency in the wake of the offensive in Ukraine. The ruble then rose slightly but resumed its fall on Thursday evening, in the middle of Vladimir Putin’s speech, during the international forum in Valdai, Russia, where the Russian president praised the “stable” economic situation in his country. “We have overcome all the problems that emerged after the implementation of sanctions against us and we have started a new stage of development,” assured Vladimir Putin. “The overall situation is stable,” he said.
Ukraine: “Everything suggests” that it was a Russian missile that hit Groza (UN)
“Everything suggests” that it was indeed a Russian missile which struck the small village of Groza in Ukraine, causing dozens of deaths, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday. “At this stage, it is obviously very difficult to establish with absolute certainty what happened, but given the location, given that the café was hit, everything suggests that it was a “a Russian missile”, declared Elizabeth Throssell, during the regular UN briefing in Geneva, stressing that the investigation must be pursued further.
The UN secretary general, other heads of UN agencies and major Western capitals condemned the attack. The Europeans and Americans have clearly accused Russia of being at the origin, Moscow has not denied it. “There do not appear to be any military targets nearby, but of course this will require further examination and verification,” Ms Throssell stressed. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will send a team of eight members – including the head of the Commission for Monitoring Human Rights in Ukraine – to the site, Ms. Throssell told AFP. This team is due to arrive on Saturday.
Two killed in strike in Kharkiv
A new attack against civilians by Russia, in Kharkiv, in the northeast of Ukraine. “The body of a 10-year-old child was found in the rubble,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Telegram, adding that his grandmother had also died.
The regional governor, Oleg Synegoubov, for his part reported at least 28 injured, including an eleven-month-old baby who is part of the same family as the two victims.
51 dead in Russian strike on the sidelines of funerals
The horror even during a funeral. 51 people including a child were killed Thursday by a Russian strike in Groza, a small village in eastern Ukraine, on the sidelines of the funeral of a Ukrainian soldier. “My son has just been taken out, without a head, without arms, without legs… He was recognized thanks to his identity papers, his driving license,” a man told Agence France Presse (AFP).
Among the victims of the strike are the wife and son of the Ukrainian soldier killed in combat whose funeral was being celebrated, according to a spokesperson for the regional prosecutor’s office cited by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Spain for a meeting with European leaders, denounced an “inhumane terrorist attack” against this town located in the Kharkiv region, near Kupiansk, a town close to the front line which is regularly the target of Russian strikes.
The bombing of Groza was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile according to preliminary data, and completely destroyed a store and a cafe located in the same building when around sixty people were there, described the Minister of Defense. Interior Igor Klymenko on national television.
“Clear agreements with the Europeans”
“It is not possible to protect people from such attacks […] only with the help of anti-aircraft defense”, affirmed Volodymyr Zelensky who spoke of the delivery to Ukraine of a new American Patriot system. On Thursday, he claimed to have received “clear agreements” from the Europeans to receive more anti-aircraft systems and artillery, after a summit in Granada, Spain.
“We will have more air defense – the agreements are clear. This is very important before winter. Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain – thank you!”, he said in his daily message broadcast on social networks.
The governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov, who reported Thursday evening that drones had been shot down – particularly in the administrative capital – indicated that “according to initial data, (there are) no victims”.
Strike on the sidelines of funeral: Germany “will do everything” so that Ukraine can protect itself
Germany will do “everything possible” so that “Ukraine can protect itself from the terror of Putin’s missiles”, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reacted Thursday on X (ex-Twitter) after the strike on a village in eastern Ukraine which left 51 dead. Earlier in Granada, Spain, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany was working to supply a new Patriot air defense system to Ukraine for the winter period.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his part denounced Thursday the “depravity” of the Russian soldiers after the strike on a village in eastern Ukraine which left 51 dead on the sidelines of a funeral, according to Downing Street. “Russian atrocities are reaching an even more sinister level,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
Eight Ukrainian drones shot down in western Russia, Moscow says
Moscow said it shot down eight Ukrainian drones in western Russia on Thursday evening without mentioning any possible damage or injuries. Thursday around 11:30 p.m. local time, “air defense systems in service destroyed five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Belgorod region”, bordering Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry communicated on Telegram early Friday.
Earlier in the night, the ministry had counted two other vehicles shot down in the same territory. An eighth aircraft suffered the same fate in the Kursk region, also bordering Ukraine, Russian Defense announced Thursday evening.
Ukraine says it shot down 25 drones
Ukraine claimed to have shot down 25 of the 33 attack drones launched by Russia, which carries out daily nightly bombings of its neighbor, across the country during the night from Thursday to Friday.
Anti-aircraft defense destroyed “25 Shahed 131/136, in the regions of Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr,” the Air Force said in a statement on Telegram.
Sweden grants new military aid to Ukraine
Sweden announced on Friday new military aid to Ukraine in the form of equipment worth 2.2 billion crowns, or around 190 million euros, and confirmed that it was considering sending hunting Gripen.
“We have prepared for a long war and therefore we must design our support in a sustainable and long-term way,” Defense Minister Pål Jonson said at a press conference.
Russian Defense Minister calls for speeding up bomber production
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called on Friday to accelerate the production of Su-34 tactical bomber planes to support the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
“These aircraft, they have the most work, carrying out between four and five flights a day,” said Sergei Shoigu, quoted in a press release from the Russian army, during a visit to an aircraft factory in Novosibirsk, in Siberia. “This is why it is necessary […] accelerate” their production, he stressed.