Russia continues Air, Missile attacks on Ukraine

Ukrainian officials are reporting more air attacks, including one in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, which they say killed at least one person.

Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands who is reporting from Kyiv, said Zaporizhzhia “continues to bear the brunt of night after night of strikes from S-300 missiles”.

He explained that the weapons being used are “older and cruder than the cruise missiles that have been launched at other parts of Ukraine”.

“They’re essentially parts of an air defence system which has been adapted to hit ground targets which are not very accurate but still damaging enough to hit a car dealership,” he said.

This disclosure may be confirmation of the disclosure by the head of the British Intelligence, GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, that Russia is running short of weapons and its troops are “exhausted”.

Fleming is expected to give a public speech later on Tuesday, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin made “strategic errors in judgement” throughout the war.

“We believe Russia is running short of munitions,” he will say. “We know – and Russian commanders on the ground know – that their supplies and munitions are running out.

“Russia’s forces are exhausted. The use of prisoners to reinforce, and now the mobilisation of tens of thousands of inexperienced conscripts, speaks of a desperate situation.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also expected to ask the G7 group of nations to urgently supply Ukraine with weapons after Moscow launched strikes that killed – according to Ukraine – at least 19 people.

US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders will meet virtually later to discuss what more they can do to support Ukraine and listen to Zelenskyy, who has called air defence systems his “number one priority”.

Meanwhile, Russia according to the United Nations may have violated its principles on the conduct of hostilities under international humanitarian law, after several missile strikes hit Ukraine on Monday.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “We are gravely concerned that some of the attacks appear to have targeted critical civilian infrastructure … indicating that these strikes may have violated the principles on the conduct of hostilities under international humanitarian law.

“We urge the Russian Federation to refrain from further escalation, and to take all feasible measures to prevent civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.”

Belarus has also said its forces had grouped with Russian troops on its borders with Ukraine as a defensive measure.

“All the activities currently being carried out are aimed at responding adequately to actions near our borders,” the defence ministry said.

President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday he had ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near Ukraine in response to what he said was a clear threat to Belarus from Kyiv and its backers in the West.

The attacks by Russia followed the bombing of the Kerch bridge linking the Ukrainian Territory of Crimea to Russia over the Weekend.