Devendra Kumar
Ukraine suffered a devastating blow on Friday as a Russian missile attack struck the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, killing one policeman and wounding at least 73 people, including nine policemen. The attack, which also damaged ten buildings, was part of a series of Russian strikes across the country overnight. In the southern Kherson region, a separate attack killed three people. Ukraine’s foreign ministry rejected the attacks, calling them “fake elections” and an attempt to strengthen Russia’s political position.
The strikes came just days after a Russian attack on a market in eastern Ukraine, which killed 16 people and left 33 wounded. The attack sparked fears that the war could spread into neighboring Romania, a Nato-member country. The incident on Friday also coincided with a funeral for an 18-year-old who was among those killed in the market attack.
As the war continues to claim lives and cause destruction, Ukraine is urging its allies to condemn Russia’s actions and not recognize any administration created as a result of the elections. Meanwhile, Russia is holding local elections in the four regions it has illegally annexed, despite not fully controlling any of them. Ukrainian activists have reported that election poll workers are making house calls accompanied by armed soldiers, further escalating tensions.
The war is not only affecting Ukraine and its neighbors but also other countries trying to manage its fallout on food security, inflation, and other matters. The UK announced plans to host a global food security summit in November in response to Russia’s withdrawal from a Black Sea grain deal and attacks on Ukraine’s grain supply. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also visited Ukraine on Friday, attending the Yalta European Strategy forum.
In a video posted on Zelensky’s Telegram channel, Johnson was seen listening to the Ukrainian leader’s speech along with Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia, and Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff. Zelensky emphasized that “for many in the world, Ukraine is not just a country in Europe that is defending itself against Russian aggression”, but a “personal moral choice” and a symbol of “a standard of freedom in which people from different countries recognize their own standards”.