Russia strikes water system of Ukraine city

A man waves a Ukrainian flag in Izium, Kharkiv Region Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said towns and villages recaptured from Russian forces had been devastated, while a major city struggled to contain damage to its water system from missile attacks by Kremlin's forces. Kryvyi Rih, the largest city in central Ukraine with an estimated pre-war population of 6,50,000, was targeted by eight cruise missiles on Wednesday, officials said.

Ukraine's presidential office said Russian troops fired missiles at the dam of the reservoir close to Zelensky's birthplace, Kryvyi Rih. The damage flooded over 100 homes as efforts were underway to contain more spillage. "The water pumping station was destroyed. The river broke through the dam and overflowed its banks. Residential buildings are just a few metres away from the river," Ukrainian legislator Inna Sovsun said on Twitter.

The missile strikes hit the Karachunov reservoir dam, Zelensky said in a video address early on Thursday. The water system had "no military value" and hundreds of thousands of civilians depend on it daily, he said. The video was released after Zelensky's return to Kyiv from Kharkiv region and following word from his office that his car had collided with a private vehicle in the capital. "The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found," presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov said in a Facebook post early on Thursday.

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin told Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday that Moscow backs Beijing's "One China" policy, opposes "provocations" by the United States in the Taiwan Strait, and values China's "balanced position" on Ukraine. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan.

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