G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky will hold emergency talks on Tuesday to discuss the latest Russian attacks on Ukraine, Berlin said on Monday.
Explosions hit several cities across the country on Monday morning, including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. Several people were killed and dozens injured. Power outages were reported in several regions.
UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned Russia for launching a barrage of fatal bombardments across Ukraine, describing it as an “unacceptable escalation of the war,” his spokesman said.
“The Secretary-General is deeply shocked by today’s large-scale missile attacks by the armed forces of the Russian Federation on cities across Ukraine that reportedly resulted in widespread damage to civilian areas and led to dozens of people being killed and injured,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
“This constitutes another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price.”
The United Nations called an urgent meeting on Monday to discuss Russia’s declared annexation of four partly-occupied Ukrainian regions, but the debate is likely to be overshadowed by the attacks.
The EU believes Russia’s missile attacks on civilians in Ukraine “amounts to a war crime,” a spokesman for the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
“Indiscriminately targeting people in a cowardly, heinous hail of missiles on civilian targets is indeed a further escalation,” the spokesman, Peter Stano, said.
“The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms these heinous attacks on the civilians and civilian infrastructure.... This is something which is against international humanitarian law and this indiscriminate targeting of civilians amounts to a war crime,” he said.
EU president Ursula von der Leyen added her voice to the wave of criticism against Russia’s actions, and promised to “stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes”.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Monday slammed Russia’s “horrific and indiscriminate attacks” on civilian targets in Ukraine and pledged to continue supporting Kyiv.
“Spoke with (Ukraine) Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and condemned Russia’s horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg tweeted.
“NATO will continue supporting the brave Ukrainian people to fight back against the Kremlin’s aggression for as long as it takes.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has assured Zelensky “of the solidarity of Germany and the other G7 states”, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told reporters, adding that the talks by video link would start at 2pm on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday condemned Russia’s “horrific” missile strikes on Ukrainian cities and pledged “unwavering” support to Ukraine.
Blinken said he had spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba “to reiterate US support for Ukraine following the Kremlin’s horrific strikes this morning.”
“We will continue to provide unwavering economic, humanitarian, and security assistance so Ukraine can defend itself and take care of its people,” Blinken tweeted.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russian air strikes across Ukraine and against civilians on Monday signalled a “profound change” in the conduct of the war.
The “deliberate strikes by Russia over the whole of Ukraine’s territory and against civilians, it’s a profound change in the nature of this war,” Macron told reporters during a trip to the Mayenne region of France, adding that he would convene his diplomatic and military advisors when he returned to Paris.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna condemned Russia’s “indiscriminate” air strikes on Ukraine on Monday, saying that intentionally targeting civilians was a war crime.
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms indiscriminate Russian strikes today against Ukrainian cities,” Colonna wrote on Twitter. “Intentionally targeting civilian populations constitutes a war crime.”
Poland’s foreign minister called Russia’s missile strikes “an act of barbarism and a war crime”.
The bombing of “cities and civilians is an act of barbarism and a war crime. Russia cannot win this war. We stand behind you Ukraine!” Zbigniew Rau wrote on Twitter.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “deeply shocked” by Russia’s attacks: “Such acts have no place in (the) 21st century. I condemn them in the strongest possible terms,” he tweeted.
“We stand with Ukraine. Additional military support from the EU is on its way,” he said, apparently referring to a new tranche of funding the EU is looking to agree for military spending for Ukraine.
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that the Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and several other cities were “unacceptable”.
“This is a demonstration of weakness by (Vladimir) Putin, not strength,” he tweeted, adding that he had contacted his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.
Moldova said Monday that Russian cruise missiles targeting Ukraine had crossed its airspace, and summoned Moscow’s envoy to demand an explanation.
“Three cruise missiles launched on Ukraine this morning from Russian ships in the Black Sea crossed Moldova’s airspace,” Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said on Twitter.
“I instructed that Russia’s ambassador be summoned to provide an explanation.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, claimed that Ukraine was preparing an attack on his country’s territory.
“I’ve said already that today Ukraine is not just discussing but planning strikes on the territory of Belarus,” state news agency Belta quoted Lukashenko as saying during a meeting with security officials. “We have agreed to deploy a regional grouping of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” he added.
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