Attacks Reported Across Ukraine, Biden To Visit Neighbour Poland

Kyiv, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Feb, 2023 ) :Ukraine said Friday that Russia had launched a major new wave of aerial attacks, as President Joe Biden announced he would mark one year since the invasion by visiting Kyiv's neighbour Poland.

Strikes were reported from the eastern region of Kharkiv to the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Brussels to lobby EU leaders for long-range weapons and fighter jets.

Zelensky said Russian missiles had crossed over ex-Soviet Moldova and NATO member Romania heading to Ukraine, though Bucharest denied the claim.

With the bloody conflict approaching its first-year anniversary on February 24, the White House said Biden would travel to NATO-ally Poland on February 20-22.

Biden will make a speech to mark "Russia's brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, addressing how the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy," the White House said.

The Kremlin on Friday also announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver his annual state of the nation speech on February 21.

Russia last targeted Ukraine with a mass strike in late January, days after Western allies agreed to deliver heavy tanks to Kyiv.

Zelensky called the new Russian attacks "a challenge to NATO", adding "this is terror that can and must be stopped." Romania's defence ministry said it detected an "aerial target launched from the Black Sea from a Russian Federation ship" but "at no point did it intersect with Romania's airspace".

The Moldovan defence ministry confirmed that Russian missiles had crossed its airspace, adding it would summon Russia's ambassador.

- Race for arms - Friday's wave of attacks follows Zelensky's visit to Europe, where he urged allies to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles and fighter jets as Kyiv braces for a renewed Russian push in the east.

Zelensky warned that Ukraine needs military supplies faster than Russia can prepare what he said would be a dangerous new offensive.

He said he received "positive signals", but some EU leaders were wary, fearing it could drag the West closer to direct conflict with Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that even if fighter jets were to be sent to Kyiv, it would not be in "the coming weeks".

The situation, however, is becoming more pressing on the ground where months-long fighting for control of Bakhmut, a key town in the eastern region of Donetsk, has left many casualties on both sides.

In one measure of the year-long conflict's toll on Moscow, about half of Russia's main battle tanks have likely been destroyed or captured by Ukraine, a senior US defense official said Friday.

Numerous foreign leaders have visited Kyiv since the war began, but Biden is considered unlikely to do so while in Poland due to security concerns.