Only 3% of Russian missiles, drones, and guided bombs hit military targets in Ukraine, while 97% have struck civilian infrastructure, Danylo Kubai, Ukraine's envoy to international organizations in Vienna, said on July 3, according to Ukrinform.
"In recent months, Russia has launched numerous attacks on Ukraine using missiles, drones, and artillery, killing dozens of civilians across the country," Kubai said during a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Ukrinform reported.
"Russia's massive air attacks have destroyed private and commercial buildings, hotels, schools, churches, hospitals, and numerous infrastructure facilities."
Kyiv has been calling on its partners to provide additional air defenses as Russia intensifies its strikes against cities and energy infrastructure.
Russia used more than 800 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine over the past week alone, targeting civilian infrastructure, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"In the late 1980s, the loss of 15,000 troops in Afghanistan forced the Soviet leadership to admit defeat and withdraw its troops from the country, ending the 10-year war," Kubai said.
"By comparison, last June alone, the Russian armed forces lost more than 33,000 soldiers in Ukraine. However, the Kremlin regime, considered the heir to the Soviet leaders, remains convinced that the war must continue."
Kateryna Hodunova
Kubai stressed that Ukraine remains determined to restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.
"Unfortunately, Russia's only response to all peace initiatives is to continue the war," the diplomat added.
Kubai also described Russia's methods of carrying out the war as those that "resemble the darkest pages of world history, which the civilized world hoped would never be repeated."
Ukraine's envoy informed foreign delegates about the latest Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and the casualties and destruction they caused.
On behalf of the Ukrainian delegation, Kubai expressed hope that Russia's actions will not remain unpunished, referring to the latest arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
The ICC announced on June 25 that it has issued arrest warrants for Shoigu and Gerasimov for war crimes against Ukraine.
Shoigu and Gerasimov are charged with the war crimes of "directing attacks at civilian objects," "causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects," and "crimes against humanity."
Martin Fornusek
