Ukraine pounded by Russian missiles as funding for more arms remains frozen

Russian missiles killed at least seven civilians and injured about 70 in strikes on residential areas of Ukrainian cities, as the United States urged Kyiv’s allies to “dig deep” to supply it with vital air defence weapons amid funding disputes in Washington and Brussels.

“A rescue operation is taking place following another Russian attack on our cities and people – deliberate terror against ordinary residential buildings in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Pavlohrad,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after the early morning strikes on Tuesday.

Ukrainian officials said at least six people were killed and 46 hurt in Kharkiv near the Russian border, when missiles damaged about 30 apartment blocks and reduced some to rubble. Thousands of Kharkiv residents were left without power in sub-zero temperatures.

Tower blocks in five districts of the capital, Kyiv, were also hit, injuring at least 22 people. One person was killed and one hurt by a rocket strike in the eastern city of Pavlohrad.

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It was the biggest air strike on Ukraine since new year, when over several days Russia launched more than 500 missiles and drones at towns, cities and military and civilian infrastructure around the country, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds.

Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhnyi, said Russia fired 41 ballistic and cruise missiles on Tuesday, 21 of which were shot down. Some of the rockets that were not intercepted failed to reach their intended targets, he added, without explaining why.

Kyiv has called on allies to send more air defence systems and ammunition urgently to help it thwart near-daily attacks from Russian-made missiles and drones, and also rockets supplied to Moscow by North Korea and attack drones provided by Iran.

[ Russia’s New Year onslaught highlights Ukraine’s need for arms and funds ]

Tens of billions of dollars and euro in proposed funding are frozen due to opposition from some Republicans in the US Congress and Hungary in the European Union.

Ukraine hoped to secure more pledges of weapons on Tuesday, when representatives of more than 50 states that supply it with arms held talks in the so-called Ramstein format.

Opening the talks, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Russian president Vladimir Putin “continues to sacrifice staggering numbers of Russian troops in his rash and reckless war of choice. And Putin hopes that missiles and drones will demoralise the Ukrainian people and break the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian military.

“So I urge this group to dig deep to provide Ukraine with more life-saving ground-based air defence systems and interceptors,” he added.

“Our support for Ukraine’s struggle against tyranny makes all of our countries more secure. If we lose our nerve, if we flinch, if we fail to deter other would-be aggressors, we will only invite even more bloodshed and chaos. So a sovereign and secure Ukraine is critical to global security. And we must not waver in our support for Ukraine.”

Russia says its invasion force will inevitably break Ukraine’s resistance no matter how much help it receives from the West, and dismisses Kyiv’s proposal of a “peace formula” based on Moscow’s troops leaving occupied territory and facing war crimes charges.

“All these formulas are a road to nowhere,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told the United Nations Security Council on Monday. “The sooner Washington, London, Paris and Brussels realise this, the better it will be for both Ukraine and the West.”