Russia strikes Ukraine hundreds of time in one night

On February 11, Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at multiple Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was “hesitating” about another round of U.S.-brokered talks on stopping the fighting, after both he and Putin voiced their displeasure with Donald Trump's conflict mediation skills. Trump has managed to tick off both world leaders by spurning Ukraine's independence, while patronizing Russia's bloodlust and military prowess. Now, both countries seem willing to play Trump's game.

Upcoming meeting

After the series of Russian airstrikes, Donald Trump announced he'd be hosting a meeting between the two countries either in Miami or Abu Dhabi. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately confirmed his presence at the meeting, but Russian leader Vladimir Putin has not commented on the proposed meeting yet. According to Zelenskyy, Russia is hesitating. Zelenskyy said the United States has set a June deadline for Ukraine and Russia to reach a deal. Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago and is refusing to relinquish the limited territory it has taken control of.

Russian strikes

In January and February, Russia has doubled down on striking Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. Russia is targeting power grids and residential areas. United Nations commissioners pleaded for Russia to stop what they call ‘an energy war' on Ukraine. On February 11, Russia fired 219 long-range strike drones, 24 ballistic missiles and a guided aircraft missile at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force. Less than ten people were killed in the strikes, but they've left nearly half a million people without electricity. The majority of the strikes were in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the city of Odesa.

Ukraine has been targeting Russian oil infrastructure for the last three months, succeeding in destroying a significant portion of the Kremlin's oil refineries. In response to the hundreds of drone strikes on February 11, Ukraine conducted its longest drone strike of the war. Ukraine deployed its long-range ‘Flamingo' missiles, hitting a Russian oil refinery. Ukraine also confirmed a ‘Flamingo' missile struck one of the Russian military's biggest storage sites for missiles, ammunition and explosives in the Volgograd region. Ukrainian forces also hit and started a fire at the Michurinsk Progress Plant in Russia's Tambov region, a defence enterprise producing high-technology equipment for aviation and missile systems.

Level of destruction

Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, February 12, Russia fired 219 long-range strike drones, 24 ballistic missiles and a guided aircraft missile at Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force. The cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Dnipro were all struck. All four cities have experienced constant bombardment from oppressive Russian forces. In Dnipro, Russian strikes injured four people, including a 4-year-old girl and a newborn boy. Two people were injured in Kyiv, but dozens of buildings were seriously damaged, and fires raged for 12 hours. In Odesa, just one person was injured as a residential high-rise was partially destroyed and a supermarket caught fire.

Oleksii Kuleba, deputy prime minister for the restoration of Ukraine, said 2,600 buildings were left without heating after the Kyiv attack, in addition to 1,100 buildings in the capital that already were without heating due to previous attacks. In Odesa alone, nearly 300,000 residents were left without running water, Kuleba said, while in Dnipro the central heating system stopped working for some 10,000 people. In total, nearly 500,000 Ukrainians have been left without a home or power.

Russia's war on Ukraine

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, at least 2 million people have been killed – mostly military personnel – and another million displaced from both sides, making it the most deadly conflict of the 21st century. The US government is pressuring Ukraine to surrender control over the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine – an area that is mostly occupied by Russian forces. Ukraine and its European allies have firmly resisted the idea of handing over land. According to Trump, conceding land is the moral thing for Ukraine to do, as “a lot of people are dying,” and that apparently multiple Ukrainian “lieutenants” and Zelenskyy's “top people” agree with the U.S. administration. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made his position clear, Ukraine is, and will always be unwilling to concede its sovereign territory.