Comment KYIV, Ukraine — Russia responded to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for peace in a speech to Group of 20 leaders on Tuesday by firing barrages of missiles at cities across Ukraine, hitting populated areas far from the front lines in one of the biggest blows to date. the country. The capital, Kyiv? Kharkiv in the east. and Lviv in the west were among at least six major cities that reported strikes after air raid sirens wailed across the country in the early afternoon, hours after Zelensky, speaking via video link, presented a 10-point peace plan to G- 20 at the Summit in Bali, Indonesia. At least one missile reportedly struck the Polish town of Przewodow, just over the border with Ukraine, killing two people, a Polish official said — a potentially provocative strike, even if unintentional, on the territory of a NATO ally. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called an emergency meeting of the country’s national defense and security council on Tuesday night in response to the incident, the official said. Mayors across Ukraine took to Twitter and Telegram to urge residents to take shelter as successive waves of rockets were fired. People were crammed into basements for hours as the strikes continued. After the all-clear, most were left in the dark as strikes knocked out power supplies across much of the country. Critical energy infrastructure again appeared to be the primary target, Ukrainian officials said, as was the case in a series of strikes last month. Tuesday’s barrage was much heavier, Zelensky told the nation on video. He said at least 85 rockets were fired, making it the biggest attack since the invasion began on February 24. Zelensky’s adviser Kirill Tymoshenko later tweeted that more than 90 missiles were fired, 70 of which were shot down by air defenses. Tymoshenko said 15 energy infrastructure targets were damaged, leaving much of the country without electricity. Following the strikes, widespread power outages were also reported in the neighboring country of Moldova. Ukraine and Moldova’s power grids are connected, and officials said a key transmission line was automatically shut down as a safety measure. The rocket fuselage was expected. Ukraine had braced for retaliation after the Russian retreat from the southern city of Kherson, the latest major battlefield setback in President Vladimir Putin’s failed war. With the surrender of Kherson, Russia lost control of the only regional capital that its forces had managed to capture since the beginning of the invasion. Ukraine’s air force also warned over the weekend that Russia may be planning strikes to coincide with the G-20 summit, which Putin has refused to attend. Ukrainian officials said the attack was proof that Moscow had no interest in peace talks, despite public claims in recent weeks that it was ready to negotiate a settlement. “Russia responds to Zelensky’s strong G-20 speech with new missile strike,” Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak tweeted. “Does anyone seriously believe that the Kremlin really wants peace? He wants obedience.” The exact extent of the damage was not immediately clear. In Kyiv, at least one person was killed and two residential buildings caught fire, Mayor Vitali Klitschko tweeted. It was unclear whether the damage was caused by a missile attack or parts of a missile intercepted by air defenses. A power station was near one of the burned buildings in Kyiv, and the mayor of Kharkiv, in the northeast, said parts of that city were without power after strikes on energy infrastructure there. Lviv, near the Polish border, also reported damage to power supplies and blackouts. Many of Tuesday’s strikes took place in the center and north of the country, areas relatively untouched by war for most of the year, Tymoshenko said. Tymoshenko urged Ukrainians to conserve energy and warned of blackouts. “The situation in the capital is extremely difficult,” he said. “Use the power sparingly and keep it up! The terrorists will still be defeated.” Witnesses recount detentions, torture, disappearances in occupied Kherson Most of the missiles were fired by warplanes flying over Russia’s Rostov province and the Caspian Sea, according to the Ukrainian air force. In total, 90 missiles were fired, he said, and 73 were shot down along with 10 Iranian-made Shahed drones. Condemnation poured in from Ukraine’s allies. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States remains committed to supporting Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley denounced the attacks as “powerless” and “humiliating” and said they showed weakness. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on November 15 asked the G-20 to back a plan to end the war after Russia’s defeat in the southern city of Kherson. (Video: Reuters) Zelensky’s 10 conditions for a peace settlement included the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from all occupied territories, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, the payment of reparations by Russia, the release of all captured and deported Ukrainian citizens, and accountability for war crimes. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, left to defend Russia’s war at the G-20 summit after Putin refused to attend, insisted on Tuesday that Russia was willing to negotiate with Ukraine to end the war and accused Kyiv that it avoids peace talks. Russia, however, still insists that Ukraine must accept the loss of illegally annexed territories. In recent days, Russian propagandists have reiterated that Russia’s terms for ending the war remain the “de-Zenizification and demilitarization” of Ukraine, even as officials such as Lavrov claim there are no preconditions for talks. “If anyone refuses, it is Ukraine, and the more they refuse, the harder it will be to agree,” Lavrov told reporters, according to state media. He said Ukraine’s proposals were “unrealistic and insufficient”. Ukraine’s central demand is for Russia to withdraw its forces and restore Ukrainian control over its borders. “Russia must withdraw all its troops and armed formations from the territory of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his speech. “Ukraine’s control over all sections of our state border with Russia must be restored,” Zelensky said. “This will lead to a real and complete cessation of hostilities. Every day of delay means new deaths of Ukrainians, new threats to the world and an insane increase in casualties due to continued Russian aggression.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Kyiv, saying “de facto and de jure Ukraine cannot and does not want to negotiate,” so the war will continue. Visiting liberated Kherson, Zelensky sees “the beginning of the end of the war” Lavrov described Zelensky’s speech as “Russophobic and aggressive” and called on Western nations to “discipline” him – comments that underscored Russia’s view of Ukraine as a non-state, disenfranchised entity. “We want to see concrete evidence that the West is serious about disciplining Zelensky and explaining to him that this cannot continue, that this is not in the interests of the Ukrainian people,” Lavrov told reporters. The Kremlin said Putin decided not to attend the G-20 summit because of his schedule and “the need to be in the Russian Federation,” although Putin has traveled outside Russia since invading Ukraine, including the city Samarkand of Uzbekistan and the Iranian capital, Tehran. Instead of going to Bali, Putin met with a patriotic group, the Pobeda Organizing Committee, and accused Western nations of distorting history to weaken Russia and “create conditions for new aggressive actions.” Despite Russia’s invasion, the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed it is the victim of external aggression and has insisted it had no choice but to attack. Putin on Tuesday also signed a decree naming two Ukrainian cities – Mariupol and Melitopol, which are held in territory Russia claims to be illegally annexed – as Russian “Cities of Military Glory”, highlighting land grabs by Russia. Peskov also insisted that the city of Kherson remains the capital of the Kherson region — and part of Russia. While Tuesday’s missile attacks were part of the Kremlin’s ongoing strategy to degrade Ukraine’s infrastructure as winter approaches, they also appeared intended to show that Russia can still do damage despite being repeatedly forced to retreat by its military. targets. Men of fighting age in Russia are still in hiding for fear of being sent to war As Russia grows more isolated, Putin has crushed dissent, promoted militaristic nationalists and waged a repressive crusade against activists, journalists and human rights defenders. On Tuesday, he attacked traitors in Russia and accused them of using “pseudo-nationalist interests” to hide their betrayals. Putin said the country must “expose all attempts of this kind and show the truth – good or bad, but objective information, make sure once again, find out and leave this truth for future generations ». Peskov has ruled out paying reparations to Ukraine, calling it an attempt to steal Russia’s foreign exchange reserves and gold, following a non-binding UN General Assembly vote on Monday calling on Russia to compensate Ukraine for war damages. “This decision is not legally binding. that’s how we’ll deal with it,” Peskov said. “We are categorically opposed.” Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia. Paul Sonne in Washington and Serhiy Morgunov in Kyiv contributed to this report. Understanding the Russia-Ukraine conflict See 3 more stories
