KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that his country´s military had shot down a majority of Russian missiles fired earlier in the day towards critical infrastructure targets.
“Air defence forces shot down most of the missiles. Engineers have already begun to restore electricity. Our people never give up,” Zelensky said in a video-statement on social media.Earlier today, two people werekilled by Russian missiles, according to Ukrainian officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia. Authorities in several regions urged residents to shelter from a fresh Russian missile barrage.
The head of the Zaporizhzhia region said two more people were injured in attacks that damaged residential homes, while Kyiv region officials said air defences were repelling Russian attacks and several regional governors called on residents to take shelter.
“Air defence forces shot down most of the missiles. Engineers have already begun to restore electricity. Our people never give up,” Zelensky said in a video-statement on social media this afternoon.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram messaging app that energy facilities in the Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Odesa regions had been hit and that emergency power cuts persisted in some regions as a result. It comes as a Group of Seven (G7) price cap on Russian seaborne oil comes into force today, while the West tries to limit Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine.
Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, has said it will not abide by the measure even if it has to cut production. The G7 nations and Australia on Friday agreed a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil after European Union members overcame resistance from Poland.
This morning, the Kremlin said the price cap would destabilise global energy markets but would not affect Moscow’s ability to sustain its military operation in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was preparing how it would respond to the move.
Zelensky said the world had shown weakness by setting the cap at that level while Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said it was a gross interference that contradicted the rules of free trade.
Novak, who is the Russian government official in charge of oil, gas, atomic energy and coal said: “We are working on mechanisms to prohibit the use of a price cap instrument, regardless of what level is set, because such interference could further destabilise the market.
“We will sell oil and petroleum products only to those countries that will work with us under market conditions, even if we have to reduce production a little”. It comes as both Russia and Ukraine launched a new barrage of missiles as air alerts rang out in many parts of the country.