KYIV: Russia pounded Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv with missiles early on Monday, while falling debris from the downed weapons injured at least two people, sparking fires and damaging homes and infrastructure, officials said.
Ukraine’s air defense units destroyed more than 10 cruise missiles and nearly 10 ballistic missiles, the city’s military administration said on the Telegram messaging app.
Air raid alerts went out across Ukraine for nearly two hours before the air force declared the skies clear at 0330 GMT. Neighbouring NATO member Poland activated Polish and allied aircraft to keep its airspace safe during the attacks.
A boiler house at a Kyiv water plant was partially damaged as was the entrance to a metro station doubling as a bomb shelter in the Svyatoshynksyi district, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, though the station still operates.
The district is home to a cluster of universities and schools.
The attack injured at least two people, Klitschko said. Cars were set ablaze across the city as well as a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, he added.
Emergency services also went to the districts of Svyatoshynksyi, Holosiivskyi, and Solomyanskyi, where debris fell from destroyed missiles, Klitschko added.
Solomyanskyi is home to a major train station and Kyiv’s main airport. The historic neighborhood of Svyatoshynksyi is on the city’s western edge, while Holosiivskyi is in its southwest.
Reuters’ witnesses in Kyiv heard a series of loud explosions in what sounded like the work of air defense units, some in the central area.
The attack came exactly a week after Moscow launched more than 200 missiles and drones on Ukraine, killing seven people and striking energy facilities nationwide in what Kyiv called the war’s “most massive” attack.
Russia denies targeting civilians in the 30-month-old war unleashed by Moscow’s invasion of its smaller neighbor.
Russia pounds Kyiv with missiles, Ukraine’s military says
https://arab.news/n2gkn
Russia pounds Kyiv with missiles, Ukraine’s military says
- More than 20 Russia-launched missiles destroyed over Kyiv
- Two injured, a water plant, metro station damaged
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
