Sawt Falasteen - Russian strikes on Ukraine 'appalling assaults': senior UN official

Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in the nationwide barrage that also wounded over 160 people, said Ukrainian officials.

"Regrettably, today's appalling assaults were only the latest in a series of escalating attacks by the Russian Federation," said UN assistant secretary-general Mohamed Khiari at a UN Security Council meeting.

"The (UN) Secretary-General unequivocally condemns, in the strongest possible terms, today's appalling attacks on cities and towns across Ukraine.

"Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must stop immediately."

The attacks -- which also saw a Russian missile passing through Polish airspace -- triggered international condemnation and fresh promises of military support to Ukraine, which has been fighting off invading Russian troops since late February 2022.

Russia's ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya blamed the toll on the misuse of Ukraine's air defense systems, "the use of which has led to the deaths of civilians," he said.

Nebenzya held up a QR code linking to a video he claimed showed that residential buildings were damaged by Ukrainian air defenses.

An American envoy to the Security Council said Friday's attacks underscore Putin's goal in the conflict: "He seeks to obliterate Ukraine and subjugate its people."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that "Ukraine, along with three dozen UN Member States, requested that the Ecuadorian Presidency convene" the meeting.

W.Mansour--SF-PST