At least 11 killed in Ukraine day after West pledges tanks

(Update 1: re-ledes, updates headline, death toll)

Lviv, Ukraine, Jan 26 (EFE).- At least 11 people were killed Thursday in fresh Russian missile strikes on Ukraine, a day after Western powers agreed to supply Kyiv with battle tanks.

A further 11 people were wounded in the attacks that hit various parts of the country, including Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Odesa, press officer of the state emergency service of Ukraine Oleksandr Khorunzhiy wrote on Telegram.

Russia used two dozens of kamikaze drones and some 55 missiles, most of which were intercepted, the Ukrainian military said.

Several buildings and infrastructure sites were also hit, the army added.

Interior ministry advisor Anton Gerashchenko said in a social media post earlier in the day that explosions were heard in several Ukrainian regions including the capital Kyiv, adding that the nation’s air defense systems were “hard at work.”

Emergency power outages were enforced in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr ahead of expected Russian strikes on infrastructure, private energy firm DTEK Group said in a statement on messaging app Telegram.

Missile strikes damaged “several” energy infrastructure facilities in the southwestern Odesa oblast, regional military leader Yuri Kruk said on Telegram, adding that no human casualties were reported.

The nationwide air alerts were sounded a day after Kyiv’s allies boosted their military support for Ukraine’s forces by announcing the provision of battle tanks.

Germany’s announcement that it would provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks and issue the required permission for other European countries to re-export models of the German-made vehicle was followed shortly after by United States president Joe Biden’s pledge of 31 M1 Abrams tanks.

Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defense minister, on Thursday said Leopard 2 tanks from German stocks would be delivered between the end of March and the beginning of April.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked both Germany and the US in a statement late Wednesday.

The Kremlin on Thursday said the decision by Western powers to supply the Ukrainian army with battle tanks demonstrated their growing “direct involvement in the conflict.”EFE

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