Ukraine comes under Russian missile onslaught

KYIV - A blistering wave of Russian strikes targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure killed 11 people on Thursday, a day after Germany and the United States pledged heavy tanks for Kyiv.

The stepped-up military aid swept aside long-standing misgivings among allies and signaled a surge of Western support for a counteroffensive against the Russian special military operation, Agence France-Presse said.

The latest wave of Russian attacks came as the Kremlin said it perceived the tanks "as direct involvement in the conflict".

Many Ukrainians welcomed the move, with a doctor who gave only her first name Liza saying near the front-line city of Bakhmut that "this should have happened sooner and in bigger quantities".

As a result of the strikes, 11 people were killed and 11 others wounded, Ukraine's emergency services said.

The Ukrainian army said its forces destroyed 47 of the 55 missiles launched by Russia.

Since October, Russia has launched regular strikes against energy infrastructure across Ukraine, where temperatures are near freezing.

Energy Minister German Galushchenko accused Russia of seeking to "create a systemic failure in Ukraine's energy system".

The electricity supply in Kyiv stabilized by the afternoon, but in the southern region of Odessa on the Black Sea, "emergency power outages will continue", energy provider DTEK said.

The attacks delayed the visit of French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who arrived in Odessa to discuss aid with Ukraine's top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba.

Although Western countries have already sent Ukraine everything from artillery to Patriot antimissile defense systems, tanks were long considered a step too far, risking a widening backlash from Russia.

But Paris insisted that neither France nor its allies are fighting a war against Russia.

"We are not at war with Russia and none of our partners are," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre.

"The delivery of military equipment ... does not constitute co-belligerence."

Russia has claimed gains on the eastern front, where Ukraine conceded that its troops had pulled out of the town of Soledar in the Donetsk region.

Russian forces and units with the Wagner paramilitary group claimed two weeks ago that they had captured the small salt-mining town.

On Wednesday, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said Moscow was also intensifying pressure along the eastern front, in the fight for nearby Bakhmut.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said Russia was engaging in "spoiling attacks across most of the front line in Ukraine in order to disperse and distract Ukrainian forces".

Those measures, it said, were to "set conditions to launch a decisive offensive operation" in the eastern Lugansk region.

Possible refugee wave

Meanwhile, the chief of the United Nations' refugee agency said that Kyiv and European governments should prepare for a possible wave of more people fleeing the fighting.

"Any exacerbation of war risks causing further displacement, one way or another, and we need to be ready for that," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in Kyiv.

Separately, Ukraine threatened to boycott the 2024 Olympics in Paris if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to take part.

The International Olympic Committee said ways to allow competitors from Russia and Belarus should be "further explored", despite them being sidelined from most Olympic sports since the invasion of Ukraine last February.

"Such a situation is unacceptable for our country," Ukrainian Sports Minister Vadym Goutzeit said.

Agencies Via Xinhua