UN Secretary-General António Guterres “strongly condemns” Russia’s recent large-scale missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine, which have killed and injured dozens of civilians and caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure, the UN press service reported.
Furthermore, according to the statement, the Secretary-General is “deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of the conflict, including on the territory of the Russian Federation”. “In this regard, he also condemns the recent attacks by Ukrainian drones on several regions of the Russian Federation, which are reported to have resulted in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure,” the UN said.
“This series of attacks took place against the backdrop of an alarming pattern of escalating strikes on populated areas, which, it is reported, has led to a record rise in civilian casualties and widespread destruction of residential and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, as well as, increasingly, in the Russian Federation. Attacks on the civilian population and civilian infrastructure constitute a clear violation of international humanitarian law and must cease immediately,” said Guterres, calling for “urgent de-escalation”.
Ukraine lacks interceptor missiles for its MIM-104 Patriot systems. This is the only system in Ukraine capable of effectively shooting down ‘Iskander-M’ missiles, ‘Kinzhal’ and ‘Zircon’ missiles flying along ballistic and quasi-ballistic trajectories. Consequently, there is a trend towards reduced effectiveness in countering these types of missiles.
Against the backdrop of this shortage, Russian forces have intensified their missile strikes on Ukraine, whilst the Ukrainian authorities have called on their partners to expand the production of ballistic missile interceptors.