Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations on Tuesday condemned Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s nuclear rhetoric and Moscow’s latest missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Leaders said they would hold Putin to account for the attacks, and that any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons would be met with severe consequences.
“We condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms and recall that indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian
populations constitute a war crime,” the leaders said in a statement. We will hold President Putin and those responsible to account.”
The urgent meeting, which was attended remotely by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, came a day after more than 80 Russian missiles rocked Ukrainian cities and struck the center of Kyiv for the first time in months. The attacks left at least 19 dead and 105 injured, according to Ukrainian officials.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Zelenskyy could count on the “solidarity of Germany and the other G7 states,” and agreed on holding the emergency G7 meeting after the two leaders spoke Monday.
Germany currently holds the G7’s rotating presidency.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said the Russian strikes indicated “a profound change in the nature of this war.”
The White House said US President Joe Biden had spoken with Zelenskyy and promised to send advanced air defense systems to Ukraine. Germany has also said it would deliver the first of four air defense systems.
Ahead of the G7 meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow expected more “confrontation” with the West.
“The mood ahead of the summit is well understood, it is easily predictable,” he said.
Here’s more news concerning Russia’s war on Ukraine from Tuesday, October 11:
Missile strikes hit Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk
A school, a medical facility and residential buildings in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia were hit by a round of missile strikes on Tuesday, according to city council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said at least one person was killed after 12 missiles struck public facilities in Zaporizhzhia.
In the western city of Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said a Russian missile strike Tuesday hit three energy facilities, knocking out power to the city. No casualties were immediately reported.
Valentyn Reznichenko, regional governor of the central Ukraine region of Dnipropetrovsk, said Russian missile strikes on energy infrastructure in the Pavlohrad and Kamianka districts did did “serious” damage to energy facilities.
“Many settlements still do not have electricity,” he said, adding that the region will implement an energy saving plan and urged residents to conserve electricity.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces carried out new strikes Tuesday targeting “military command facilities and the energy system of Ukraine,” using “high-precision, long-rage…weapons.”
Authorities in Zaporizhzhia said one person was killed Tuesday
Air raid warnings issued across Ukraine
Ukraine’s emergency services put the entire country on alert Tuesday morning, warning of a “high probability of missile strikes.”
“Please remain in shelters for your own safety, do not ignore air raid signals,” it said on the Telegram messaging app.
DW correspondent Fanny Facsar in Kyiv said Ukrainian authorities sent an air raid alert warning people to take shelter Tuesday morning as more missile strikes are expected.
“People are trying to come up with a plan of what to do, as things have become quite uncertain here in the capital,” she said.
After Kyiv was hit by missile fire for the first time in months yesterday, “people take these air raid alerts more seriously than they did in the past,” she added. “This makes me recall the early days of the war.”
Ukraine calls for electricity-saving plan
Ukrainians are being asked to limit their electricity consumption after Russian missile strikes badly damaged energy facilities.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday said electricity consumption should be limited between peak hours in the evening.
Shmyhal added that on Monday Ukrainians voluntarily reduced their electricity consumption by an average of 10%, and that nearly 4,000 localities were without power because of the missile attacks.
“However, energy workers and rescuers have managed to restore power to most regions. Electricity supply in western regions has stabilized, Kharkiv and Kharkiv region are almost fully online,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
OSCE condemns Russian missile strikes as ‘terror’
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said Russian missile strikes on major Ukrainian cities amounted to “terror” that violates international law.
“These heinous military actions represent a total disrespect and breach of international law, including humanitarian law,” a statement by OSCE leaders said.
“The only reason behind these brutal and cruel acts is to spread terror and to compensate for failures in achieving tactical and strategic goals,” it said.
Russia is one of the 57 member states of the organization.
The OSCE had for years monitored a cease-fire between Kyiv and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. OSCE monitors withdrew after Russia’s invasion in February.
UN rejects Russian call for secret vote
The United Nations General Assembly rejected Moscow’s call for a secret ballot vote of a draft resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
Of 193 members,107 voted against a secret ballot on a draft resolution. Thirteen countries voted in favor of Russia’s motion while 39 abstained.
Moscow had argued that Western lobbying made it so that “it may be very difficult if positions are expressed publicly.”
Russian strikes could cause ‘displacements’ — UN refugee agency
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned that more people could be forced to leave their homes following a wave of Russian strikes on a number of major Ukrainian cities.
“The horror of what happened in Ukraine today … is inexcusable,” Grandi said.
“The bombing of civilians, of houses, … of non-military infrastructure in an indiscriminate manner in many cities across Ukraine means the war is becoming harder and more difficult for civilians,” he said.
He added that he feared the strikes could “provoke more displacements” in Ukraine. The UN refugee chief said that he expected most to qualify as internally displaced in Ukraine.
Grandi said that the situation in Ukraine was “very fluid,” as many refugees try to return home after fleeing. He said that displacements could last longer in places that saw substantial destruction or where residents don’t have access to heat or food.
wmr,sdi/fb (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)