New Delhi: At least 48 civilians were killed in Russian strike on a grocery store in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, as reported by news agency AFP.
Condemning the attack, President Zelensky termed it as a “demonstrably brutal Russian crime” and “a completely deliberate act of terrorism.”
Zelensky also urged the Western allies to help bolster Ukraine’s air defences, and asserted that “Russian terror must be stopped,” news agency AP reported.
“Russia needs this and similar terrorist attacks for only one thing: to make its genocidal aggression the new norm for the whole world. Now we are talking with European leaders, in particular, about strengthening our air defence, strengthening our soldiers, giving our country protection from terror. And we will respond to the terrorists,” AP quoted the Ukrainian President as saying.
According to the AP report, the Russian strike came as Zelensky was in Granada in southern Spain to attend a summit of the European Political Community.
“The key for us, especially before winter, is to strengthen air defence, and there is already a basis for new agreements with partners,” Zelensky posted on his Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian President also noted that the Granada Summit will focus on “joint work for global food security and protection of freedom of navigation” in the Black Sea, AP reported.
Notably, his statements came in the wake of Russian troops targeting the Ukrainian ports after Moscow’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal.
Speaking at the Granada Summit, President Zelensky also called for “additional air defence system for Ukraine, additional artillery and shells, additional long-range missiles and drones for our soldiers, and additional formats of support and security guarantees for nations threatened by Russia”, AP reported.
Recently, in other Russian attacks on Ukraine, two persons were killed in southern city of Kherson and another one died after a Russian attack on the city of Krasnohorivka in eastern Donetsk region, according to AP.