At least 19 killed in Russian missile attacks in Ukrainian cities; Biden promises Zelensky advanced air defense systems

Russia launched a scary and ferocious attack on Ukraine on Monday, October 10, 2022, following the Crimean bridge blast. Missile strikes in several cities in Ukraine including Kyiv yesterday resulted in 19 deaths and over a hundred people being injured.

#UPDATE At least 19 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in Russian strikes across Ukraine on Monday, Ukraine's emergency services said pic.twitter.com/WDCwvSnJjm

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 11, 2022

Where were the attacks reported? Missile attacks were reported in Ukraine's Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv.

The dash cam captures the moment when a #Russian missile hits one of the electrical facilities in the city of #Lvov. Most of the city doesn't still have electricity to this moment.#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar️ pic.twitter.com/oVURHjaU6J

— Like Rst ✊☠ (@rst_like) October 11, 2022

The Monday attack by Russia has the world alarmed.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday and condemned the Russian strikes and pledged continued US security assistance including advanced air defense systems, reported CNN.

Here are the latest updates on the war: 

• A new missile strike was reported in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. It hit 'critical infrastructure' according to the Mayor. 
• UN Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani, said that intentionally targeting civilians "amounts to a war crime".

#UPDATE Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, told reporters in Geneva, that intentionally targeting civilians and civilian objects, "amounts to a war crime" pic.twitter.com/grKVBkGZoj

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 11, 2022

• US President Joe Biden will hold a virtual meeting with leaders of G7 countries (US, UK, Canada, France, Germany Italy, and Japan - EU as a non-enumerated member) alongside Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• The G7 meeting will discuss the group's commitment to hold Vladimir Putin responsible for Russia's attacks in Ukraine. 

Ukraine cannot be intimidated. We united even more instead. Ukraine cannot be stopped. We are convinced even more that terrorists must be neutralized. Now the occupiers are not capable of opposing us on the battlefield already, that is why they resort to this terror- @ZelenskyyUa pic.twitter.com/Rndgc4Xdof

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 10, 2022

• The UN General Assembly discussed whether to condemn Russia's annexation and the so-called referendums on the four partially occupies regions of Ukraine. 
• UNGA also proposed a resolution to label Russian annexations of the four regions illegally demanding that the Kremlin immediately and unconditionally removes the annexations. 
• A vote on the UNGA resolution is expected later in the week. Moscow demanded the vote to be a secret ballot but the request was declined. India also voted against a secret ballot. 

In UNGA, India voted in favour of a procedural vote called by Albania to have an open vote instead of Russia's demand for a secret ballot on a draft resolution on Ukraine

India voted 'Yes'. 24 countries (incl China, Iran and Russia) did not cast their vote. pic.twitter.com/QJqoAwmCaj

— ANI (@ANI) October 11, 2022

• Ukrainian ambassador Serhiy Kyslytsya hit out at Russia at the UN meeting saying, "By launching missile attacks on civilians sleeping in their homes or rushing toward children going to schools, Russia has proven once again that it is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways." 

Since the state that commits war crimes is allowed to exercise Soviet veto right in Security Council, global architecture’s been razed to the ground; now it looks like a crater in downtown Kyïv. UN isn’t a building, it’s a body of Govts. Follow what your Govt says in UNGA today! https://t.co/JqVdAa419V pic.twitter.com/OBiaaTd1zE

— Sergiy Kyslytsya (@SergiyKyslytsya) October 10, 2022

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to US President Joe Biden on Monday and later said on Telegram that air defence was their number 1 priority at the moment. 
• India reacted to Monday's assaults on Ukraine saying that it is deeply concerned over the escalation. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi reiterated India's stance to support de-escalation efforts. 

Our response to media queries on escalation of conflict in Ukraine:https://t.co/LoELjRwDEm pic.twitter.com/jCNHw95UKw

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 10, 2022

• UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned of increased displacement of people in Ukraine following a wave of Russian strikes on civilian areas. 
• Hundreds of people in Poland's capital, Warsaw, protested in front of the Russian embassy calling for Russia to be designated as a 'terrorist state'. Protesters also gathered in Skopje, capital of Macedona. 

Demonstrators gathered in Skopje on Oct. 10 to protest Russia after it launched missile attacks across Ukraine.

People holding banners in support of Ukraine and Ukrainian flags gathered near the Russian Embassy in the Macedonian capital.

📸Robert Atanasovki/ Getty Images pic.twitter.com/hEpyOpR02Z

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 11, 2022

Context: Russia has accused Ukraine of blowing up a strategic bridge in Russian-occupied Crimea. However, Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the bridge blast. The bridge connected Crimea (a peninsula in the south of Ukraine) to the rest of Ukraine.