Ukraine Attacks Several Regions in Russia; Moscow is 'Losing Control Over Crimea'

Russian officials say that in Ukrainian drone attacks on several regions in Russia, one person was killed, and two power stations and an oil depot caught fire. The attack on Tuesday, July 9, came a day after the 'deadliest' missile and drone attacks by Russia on Kyiv and several other cities in Ukraine, where the largest specialized children's medical center in Ukraine and another medical center in the Dnipropetrovsk region were targeted by cruise missiles. Russia's attacks on Ukraine were condemned by the UN Secretary-General, and five permanent and non-permanent members of the Security Council, including the US, France, and the UK, called for an emergency council meeting on Tuesday. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed 38 Ukrainian drones. According to Russian sources, 21 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the southern Rostov region and seven in the airspace of Kursk, both of which border Ukraine. Andrei Bukharov, the governor of Kalach-on-Don in the Belgorod region, reported on his Telegram channel that a substation and an oil depot caught fire due to debris from drones intercepted by Russian air defense. He stated that the fire at the power station was quickly contained, but firefighters were battling flames at the oil depot. According to Bukharov, no one was injured, and there was no threat to nearby residential buildings. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not mention the Ukrainian attack on Belgorod on Tuesday. The governor of Belgorod stated that four people were killed in the area, 20 were injured, and dozens of homes, apartments, and vehicles were damaged. The second power station that was damaged in the nighttime attack by Ukraine on Russia is located in the Rostov region. Local officials also reported extinguishing the fire at this station. The death toll from Russia's attacks on Ukraine on Monday rose to 41, with more than 170 injured. In addition to Kyiv, the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, and Pokrovsk were targeted by Russian missile and drone attacks on Monday, which not only damaged the Kyiv children's hospital named 'Okhmatdyt' and another medical unit in the capital that also had a maternity center but also affected a hundred civilian buildings, including residential homes and a commercial center. Images released from the damage caused by these attacks showed parents of newborns hospitalized in the hospital bewildered and crying as they searched for their children, and hundreds of people in Kyiv rushed to help remove the rubble from the hospital. Ukraine declared a day of mourning on Tuesday. Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Warsaw discussing a new military and security cooperation agreement against Russia with Donald Tusk, the Prime Minister of Poland, promised to take revenge on Russia. Mr. Tusk also stated that Ukraine would retaliate against Russia's attack. On Monday, Ukraine told its Western allies that Russia's attacks on the country's infrastructure demonstrated how much Ukraine needed to upgrade its air defense system. The UN Secretary-General described Russia's attack, especially on the children's hospital, as 'shocking' and condemned it. Joe Biden, the President of the United States, described Russia's attack on Ukraine on Monday night as 'a horrifying reminder of Russian brutality' and pledged to strengthen Ukraine's air defense. Leaders from Canada and the UK also condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine, and the Prime Minister of Italy labeled it a 'war crime.' The Russian Ministry of Defense denied attacking Ukrainian civilians, stating that Moscow's actions on Monday targeted 'military industry objectives' and 'air bases' in Ukraine. General Andriy Kostin, the Attorney General of Ukraine, announced that he had discussed Russia's attacks on Monday with Karim Khan, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and would provide all information and evidence related to the attacks on the capital and other cities in Ukraine to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The intensification of Russia's attacks on Ukraine comes ahead of the NATO summit on Tuesday in Washington. In another development, Oleksiy Nezhpapa, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy, told Reuters that Russia is losing control over the center of the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea. According to this Ukrainian naval official, Russia 'has been forced to move almost all of its warships from Crimea to other locations, and the main naval center of Russia has become ineffective due to Ukrainian attacks.' Admiral Nezhpapa added that recent missile and drone attacks by Ukraine on the Sevastopol base, which was a logistics center for repairs, training, and ammunition storage, 'have caused significant damage.' Russia rarely discloses the damage caused by Ukrainian attacks on its facilities. Russia occupied the Crimean Peninsula, which belonged to Ukraine, ten years ago, and during its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it seized large parts of four Ukrainian provinces. The President of Russia stated this week that Kyiv must relinquish ownership of these four provinces for the war in Ukraine to end.