Zelensky says Putin lifted limits on civilian attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times that intercepted communications show President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian commanders to lift previous restrictions on aerial strikes against civilian infrastructure, a claim reported by the Kyiv Post. The comment followed a wave of Russian attacks that began on September 24, when missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and the Kharkiv region killed eight people and damaged a maternity hospital, Reuters reported. Subsequent air raids on killed at least four civilians in Zaporizhzhia and other cities, prompting Zelensky to call for tougher sanctions, Yahoo reported. On the following, attacks in Kyiv and elsewhere killed at least seven and injured more than 50, CBS News said. A Russian jet-powered drone later hit Kyiv’s National Academy of Sciences, killing two and wounding others, Al Jazeera reported.
Large coordinated strikes on the power grid across 11 regions killed five, including a child, and caused widespread outages, the BBC reported. A later overnight assault killed seven and forced emergency power cuts in Kyiv and three other regions as winter temperatures fell, CNBC reported. On October 1, drones struck Kyiv’s Southern Bridge and a school, halting traffic but causing no injuries, the Kyiv Independent reported. The next day, drones hit the Pivdennyi bridge, damaging a metro train but leaving the structure sound, the BBC reported. On October 2, Ukraine deployed its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat, with Zelensky urging mass production, the Guardian reported.
