Top Ukrainian diplomat dubs Russian missile strikes ‘senseless barbarism’

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday dubbed the latest Russian missile strikes witnessed during the day as "senseless barbarism."

"Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to mind seeing Russia launch another missile barrage at peaceful Ukrainian cities ahead of New Year," Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

Kuleba said that there can be no “neutrality” in the face of such attacks, which he described as “mass war crimes.”

“Pretending to be ‘neutral’ equals taking Russia’s side,” Kuleba further said.

Separately, a tweet from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry showed a missile that hit a private house but did not explode in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region.

A nationwide air raid alert was activated earlier in the day due to the possibility of Russian strikes.

Adviser to the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter that Moscow launched over 120 missiles on the country.

Meanwhile, local authorities in the capital Kyiv and the cities of Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, and Kryvyi Rih have reported explosions and power outages.

No reports of casualties were available as of yet.