For a Second Day, Russia Strikes Ukraine with Missiles

For a Second Day, Russia Strikes Ukraine with Missiles

Russia launches a second round of missiles against Ukrainian cities on Tuesday. The attacks came one day after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people. The strikes Monday also wounded more than 100 people and damaged power lines.

The United Nations human rights office described the attacks as "particularly shocking," saying that they could be war crimes.

Air raid warnings extended throughout Ukraine. People hurried back into shelters after months of calm in Kyiv and many other cities. "It brings anger, not fear," Volodymyr Vasylenko of Kyiv said as workers repaired traffic lights and cleared wreckage¹ from the city's streets. "We already got used to this. And we will keep fighting."

Tuesday's missile strikes struck both power plants and civilian² areas, just as Monday's attacks did. One person was killed when 12 missiles hit the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, setting off a large fire, the State Emergency Service said. A local official said the missiles hit a school, housing and medical buildings.

Missiles struck energy plants in the western Lviv and the Vinnytsia areas. Officials said Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian missile before it reached Kyiv. But, the capital city only had limited power following Monday's deadly strikes.

The State Emergency Service said 19 people died and 105 people were wounded in Monday's strikes. At least five of the victims were in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. More than 300 cities and towns lost power, from the capital to Lviv on the border with Poland.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden and other Group of Seven (G-7) leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by video link.

The Ukrainian leader asked for air defense³ systems, which he has called his "number 1 priority." Zelenskyy urged the G-7 leaders to hit Russia's energy industry with tougher sanctions. He added: "There can be no dialogue with this leader of Russia, who has no future."

The G-7 leaders condemned⁴ the bombardment, saying "indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime." They also promised that they would "stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes."

Fear of rising tensions

Russia's missile attacks came after a weekend explosion that damaged a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. Russia annexed⁵ the area from Ukraine in 2014.

A spokesperson for the office of the U.N. High Commissioner⁷ for Human Rights said Tuesday that strikes on "civilian objects," including structures such as power plants, could qualify as a war crime. Ravina Shamdasani told reporters at a U.N. briefing in Geneva, "Attacks targeting civilians⁸ and objects indispensable to the survival of civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian⁹ law."

In Moscow, Russian officials, nationalist supporters and state media celebrated¹⁰ the missile strikes. They argued that the attack was fitting and answered Ukrainian battlefield successes and the explosion on the bridge.

Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov wrote on Twitter, "It is time for fighting! Fiercely, even cruelly. Without looking back at whatever censures¹² from the West." And Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he was now "100 percent happy" with the Russian operations in Ukraine. Kadyrov was among those who called for strong measures including the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.

Ukrainian forces have been increasingly successful in counteroffensive attacks. But, western nations are fearful that Russia might use chemical or nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Last week, Biden said, "First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use (of a) nuclear weapon if in fact, things continue down the path they are going." But the Biden administration added that the U.S. has not seen any change in the Russian nuclear position.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke⁶ about the issue Tuesday. He said on state television that Russia would only use nuclear weapons "to prevent the destruction of the Russian Federation¹³." He also accused the West of spreading false information about Russia's goals.

In Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance would hold long-planned exercises next week to test the state of readiness of its nuclear forces.

The exercise, named "Steadfast¹⁴ Noon," is held yearly. It involves fighter jets able of carrying nuclear warheads but does not involve real nuclear weapons.

Asked whether it was the wrong time for such an exercise, Stoltenberg replied: "It would send a very wrong signal now, if we suddenly canceled a routine, long-time planned exercise because of the war in Ukraine."

Stoltenberg added that "Russia knows that a nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought."

Words in This Story

sanctions –n. (pl.) actions taken to punish a country to make it obey international law, usually in the form of economic restrictions¹⁵

dialogue –n. discussions between two groups aimed at ending a disagreement

indiscriminate –adj. affecting or harming many people in a careless or unfair way

constitute –v. to be the same as something; to be equivalent to something

indispensable –adj. necessary; cannot be done without

censure¹¹ –v. to officially criticize someone or something

routine –n. something that happens regularly; not unusual

1 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

8 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 censure   

v./n.责备；非难；责难

参考例句：

• You must not censure him until you know the whole story.在弄清全部事实真相前不要谴责他。
• His dishonest behaviour came under severe censure.他的不诚实行为受到了严厉指责。

12 censures   

v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• With such censures I cannot profess that I completely agree. 对于这些指责，我不能说我完全同意。 来自辞典例句
• This is a review containing unfair censures of a new book. 这是对一本新书进行非难的文章。 来自互联网

13 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

14 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

15 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制