Preventing Ukrainian Rocket And Artillery Attacks, Russian Defense Minister Orders Troops To Step Up Military Operations

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru)

JAKARTA - Russia's Defense Ministry says it has stepped up operations in Ukraine, as the intensity of rocket and missile attacks hitting the country has increased in recent days, with Kyiv claiming dozens of people dead.

In the latest attack, missiles hit the northeastern city of Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region, killing three people including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others, regional governor By Synehubov said. Meanwhile in the south, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said more than 50 Russian Grad rockets fell on the city of Nikopol, on the Dnipro River. Two people died, emergency services said.

As a result of such attacks in various cities in the past three days, Ukrainian authorities put the death toll at around 40 people.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had ordered military units to step up their operations to prevent attacks in eastern Ukraine and other areas controlled by Russia.

It said Shoigu "provided the necessary instructions to further enhance the group's actions in all operational areas, to exclude the possibility of the Kyiv regime launching massive rocket and artillery attacks on civilian infrastructure and residential residents in Donbas and other regions".

The ministry said Shoigu had issued his order after hearing reports at the command center from the generals leading the Southern and Central command groups of Russian forces operating in Ukraine, as well as other commanders.

It was not clear from the statement, or the silent footage provided, exactly when the meeting took place or whether Shoigu and the commanders were in Ukraine at the time.

It is known that Ukrainian rocket attacks using Western-supplied systems have destroyed more than 30 Russian military logistics centers in recent weeks and significantly reduced the potential for Russian strikes, Ukraine said Friday.

As previously reported, in a recent attack that drew anger from Ukraine and its Western allies, a Kalibr cruise missile launched from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea hit an office building in Vinnytsia, a city of 370,000 people about 200 km (125 miles) away. southwest of Kyiv, on Thursday.

Kyiv said the attack killed at least 23 people and injured dozens more. Among the dead was Liza, a 4-year-old girl with Down's Syndrome, found in the rubble next to a pram. An image of him pushing the same stroller, posted by his mother on the blog less than two hours before the attack, quickly went viral.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack on Vinnytsia was directed at a building where top officials of the Ukrainian armed forces were meeting with foreign arms suppliers. Read more

While Friday night, Russian missiles hit the city of Dnipro, about 120 km (75 miles) north of Nikopol, killing three people and wounding 15, Reznychenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region which includes both cities, said on Telegram. Footage on social media showed thick black smoke rising from burning buildings and cars.

In that regard, Russia said on Saturday that it had destroyed a factory on the Dnipro that makes missile parts.