In a stark manifestation of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia has claimed to have intercepted six U.S.-supplied long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) over the past day. Russian defense ministry’s announcement on Telegram was met with skepticism as they did not provide evidence for the claim. The ATACMS missiles, recently and quietly supplied to Ukraine by the U.S., are capable of striking targets up to 300km (190 miles) away, significantly enhancing Ukraine’s retaliatory capabilities.
The head of occupied Crimea, which is occupied by Russia since 2014, Sergei Aksyonov, on Telegram reported that ATACMS missiles were shot down over the Russian-occupied peninsula. Aksyonov explained that “after the ATACMS missiles were shot down, the undetonated submunitions scattered.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine is experiencing the deadly impact of Russian missile strikes. Port city of the south Odesa mourned the killing of five and injuring 32 as a Russian missile hit a popular seafront park. Regional governor Oleh Kiper stated that the strike was made with an Iskander ballistic missile with a cluster munition, which has made headlines for killing civilians. “Such munitions are used to kill manpower and pose a threat primarily to people, not for machinery and buildings,” Kiper said, underscoring the indiscriminate application of the weapon used.
The Russian shelling also targeted the northeastern city of Kharkiv, killing two people and injuring six, local authorities reported. Oleh Synehubov, the chairman of the Kharkiv regional state administration, announced that the occupiers hit the city of Kharkiv with two anti-aircraft guns anti-aircraft guided missiles, the hits to the ground were recorded in the Kyiv district. In one of the residential buildings, the facade and glazing of the windows of the building were damaged.
Strikes on Odesa and Kharkiv bring to light the intensified escalation of violence, along with the number of lives lost in the conflict. Ukraine Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin pointed out that the Odesa attack is being investigated, and he added, the strike was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile equipped with a cluster munition the investigation has grounds to believe that Russian forces officers decided to use this particular weapon deliberately to kill as many Ukrainian civilians as possible.
Against this background of these deadly airstrikes, Ukraine is continuing to experience the aftermath of the war, with a 98-year-old Ukrainian woman’s harrowing journey under shellfire to escape the village of Ocheretyne in Donetsk being a bleak reminder of the traumatic life of civilians.
