Russian missiles hit Ukraine, killing 14 people

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KYIV, Ukraine — At least 14 people were killed when three Russian missiles hit the center of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Wednesday, hitting an eight-story apartment building, authorities said.

At least 61 people, including two children, were injured in the early morning terrorist attack, the Emergency Services of Ukraine reported. Chernihiv is located about 150 kilometers (90 mi) north of the capital Kyiv, near the Russian-Belarusian border, and has a population of about 250,000.

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The latest Russian bombing comes as the invasion enters its third year and Ukraine approaches a critical juncture where the lack of further military support from its Western partners leaves it at the mercy of the Kremlin's superior forces.

During the winter months, Russia made no significant progress along the 1,000 km (620 mi) front line, focusing instead on a war of attrition. However, Ukraine's shortage of artillery ammunition, troops and armored vehicles has allowed the Russians to make a gradual advance, military experts say.

An important element for Ukraine is the fact that Washington did not approve the aid package for Ukraine, which includes about 60 billion dollars. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he would try to move the package forward this week.

According to the expert organization “Institute for the Study of War” based in Washington, now Ukraine's needs are very acute.

“The Russians are withdrawing from the war of attrition and regaining battlefield maneuverability due to delays in US military aid to Ukraine,” ISW said in an assessment late Tuesday.

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“Ukraine will not be able to hold current lines until it urgently resumes US assistance, especially air defense and artillery, which only the US can provide quickly and on a large scale,” the report said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Western countries to provide his country with more air defense equipment, including Patriot surface-to-air missile systems. According to him, the strike in Chernihiv “would not have happened if Ukraine had acquired sufficient anti-aircraft defense equipment and if the world had had enough courage to fight against Russian terrorism.”

In an interview with PBS earlier this week, Zelensky said Ukraine recently ran out of air defense missiles while defending against a major missile and drone attack that destroyed one of Ukraine's largest power plants, part of a recent Russian campaign targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba reiterated Zelensky's request for additional assistance as he prepares to attend the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Italy.

“We need at least seven Patriot batteries to protect our cities and economic centers from destruction,” Kuleba said in an interview with German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung published on Wednesday. “Why is it so hard to find seven Patriot batteries?”

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Ukrainian forces are digging in fortifications in anticipation of a major Russian offensive, which Kiev authorities say could happen as early as next month.

Ukraine is using long-range drone and missile strikes behind Russian lines to disrupt Moscow's war machine.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that a Ukrainian drone was shot down in the Tatarstan region on Wednesday morning. It is about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) east of Ukraine, the same area inside Russia targeted by Ukraine's deepest strike in early April.

Ukrainian drone manufacturers are expanding their range of weapons.

Another Ukrainian drone was shot down in the Mordovia region, about 350 kilometers east of Moscow, the ministry said. It is 700 kilometers (430 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

About an hour before the attack on Mordovia, the Russian Civil Aviation Authority suspended flights at the airports of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, Tatarstan, two of the country's largest cities, due to security concerns.

Also, unconfirmed reports say that a Ukrainian missile hit an airfield in occupied Crimea. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials confirmed the strike, but local authorities temporarily closed the road to the airfield. According to the Russian TASS news agency, referring to the local mayor, the windows of a mosque and a private house in the region were broken due to the explosion.

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Kirsten Grieshaber contributed from Berlin.

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Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine here: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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