Russia hits Ukraine with largest air attack this year

{"text":[[{"start":8.39,"text":"Russian missiles and drones pounded Ukraine overnight on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding scores more in one of the largest aerial attacks of the war."}],[{"start":19.73,"text":"Explosions continuing into Thursday morning rocked Kyiv and destroyed several buildings, jolting residents from bed and sparking fires that sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Four people were killed, including a 12-year-old boy, and 45 more people were wounded in the Ukrainian capital, said mayor Vitali Klitschko. "}],[{"start":42.33,"text":"Russian air strikes also killed nine people in Odesa, three in Dnipro and one in Zaporizhzhia. More than 100 people were injured in total, authorities reported. Odesa’s Black Sea port also suffered damage, according to Ukrainian deputy prime minister Oleksiy Kuleba."}],[{"start":62.91,"text":"The bombardment came four days after a brief Easter ceasefire and as US-led peace negotiations to end Russia’s war are stalled. In March, as the full-scale conflict entered a fifth year, civilian casualties increased by 49 per cent from February, with at least 211 killed and 1,206 injured, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said last week."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":89.78999999999999,"text":"Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia had fired 19 ballistic missiles, 25 cruise missiles and 659 attack drones. "}],[{"start":100.97,"text":"Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate, known by its acronym GUR, told the FT in an interview in Kyiv on Friday that Russian forces were stepping up ballistic missile strikes on Ukrainian cities."}],[{"start":118.25999999999999,"text":"Moscow is producing about 60 Iskander missiles a month and has expanded its launcher capacity, while Ukraine lacks sufficient advanced air-defence systems such as the US-made Patriot system to cover the entire country, Skibitskyi said. "}],[{"start":134.89999999999998,"text":"He warned that critical infrastructure, especially energy facilities badly damaged by Russia’s winter air-strike campaign that brought the country close to catastrophe, remains highly vulnerable as a result while Moscow refines its strike tactics."}],[{"start":152.84999999999997,"text":"President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he toured European capitals this week — including Germany, Norway and Italy — seeking defence deals with partners that securing air-defence systems and interceptor missiles was Ukraine’s top priority. American-made Pac-3 interceptors for the Patriot air-defence system are the only weapons in Kyiv’s arsenal capable of downing Russia’s ballistic missiles."}],[{"start":179.93999999999997,"text":"On Thursday, Zelenskyy said he had asked the commander of Ukraine’s Air Forces “to contact those partners who earlier committed to providing missiles for Patriot and other systems” and report on the timeframe for their delivery. "}],[{"start":195.11999999999998,"text":"Skibitskyi said that Russia’s increasing missile and drone attacks are part of a broader effort to destroy critical infrastructure and shape the battlefield ahead of a renewed spring-summer offensive."}],[{"start":209.2,"text":"Russia is readying a fresh ground assault in south-eastern Ukraine, dipping into its strategic reserve to add 20,000 fresh troops to its force inside the country, he said. With some 680,000 soldiers now on the ground, Russia is aiming to capture the entire Donbas region by September, he said, citing a GUR assessment shared with the FT. "}],[{"start":234.88,"text":"In doing so, said Skibitskyi, who is among Ukraine’s team of peace negotiators, Moscow is showing that it is unserious about the talks but instead plans to continue its war."}],[{"start":257.27,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1776387494_4070.mp3"}