Russia Ukraine war live: Death toll rises in devastating missile attacks against Kyiv and Kharkiv

NATO signed on Tuesday a $1.2-billion contract to make tens of thousands of artillery rounds to replenish the dwindling stocks of its member countries as they supply ammunition to Ukraine to help it defeat Russia‘s invasion.

The contract will allow for the purchase of 220,000 rounds of 155-millimeter ammunition, the most widely sought after artillery shell, according to NATO’s support and procurement agency. It will allow allies to backfill their arsenals and to provide Ukraine with more ammunition.

“This is important to defend our own territory, to build up our own stocks, but also to continue to support Ukraine,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters.

“We cannot allow President (Vladimir) Putin to win in Ukraine,” he added. “That would be a tragedy for the Ukrainians and dangerous for all of us.”

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Russia’s military is being forced to strip down fridges and other household appliances for parts as its invasion of Ukraine grinds on, a British representative to the UN has said.

The UK’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, James Kariuki, also told a UN Security Council meeting in New York that the war had set back the modernisation of the Russian military by almost two decades.

“Now Russia’s defence industry strips down fridges for parts. It orders its weapons from the DPRK [North Korea’s official name] in violation of multiple resolutions agreed in this chamber, under this Russian foreign minister’s instruction. Its purchase and use of Iranian drones involves both states violating a Security Council resolution,, said at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Monday.

Ambassador Kariuki said Russia has suffered more than 300,000 casualties in Ukraine as Kyiv keeps up its stout defence while striking key targets in Russia and Russian-held territory, and “mothers and wives of these soldiers have been arrested or ignored”.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said Russian missile strikes throughout the country killed 18 people and injured more than 130.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said more than 200 sites were struck, including 139 dwellings.

Officials in Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city, had earlier said eight that had died in an attack on an apartment building.

Russia’s military is carrying out probing attacks with barrages of missiles and drones in an attempt to find weaknesses in Ukraine‘s military as U.S. funding for security assistance is tied up in Congress, a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday.

The efforts include use of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, and Russia has also sought to force Ukraine to expend precious ammunition, and air defenses, to counter the attacks.

“They’ve not succeeded so far. Ukrainians have a lot of experience over the last few years on how to cope with these kinds of Russian assaults,” Celeste Wallander, an assistant secretary of defense, told reporters.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russia fired 41 missiles at Ukrainian cities, according to Ukraine‘s air force, which said it destroyed 21 of them.

Wallander’s remarks came as Republicans in Congress have blocked emergency funding that President Joe Biden has requested for Ukraine and threaten to force a partial shutdown of the government in an effort to push new security policies along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Biden has requested $61.4 billion in additional funding to help supply Ukraine with weapons and replenish U.S. stocks as it nears the two-year mark of its war with Russia. The funds sought for Ukraine are part of a “supplemental” request that also includes $14.3 billion for Israel and $13.6 billion for border protection.

Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian capital and other cities on Tuesday, local officials said, killing at least nine people and damaging energy infrastructure as Moscow’s war approaches its third year.

In the eastern city of Kharkiv, the death toll rose to eight. Ukraine‘s Emergency Services posted online a video of teams sifting through a shattered apartment building and said the body of an eight-year-old girl had been recovered.

Governor Oleh Synehubov said more than 100 high-rise blocks in the city had been damaged.

Police said 57 people were injured, including eight children.

In Kyiv, where the blasts of air defence pierced the morning calm, emergency services said 22 people, including four children, had been wounded across at least three districts.

At one site, rescuers tended to dazed and groaning victims as workers swept away debris and broken glass.

“There was a very loud bang, and my mother was already running outside, shouting that we need to leave. We all went to the corridor,” said Daniel Boliukh, 21. “Then, we went on the balcony to have a look, and saw all these buildings were on fire.”

The Doomsday Clock has remained at 90 seconds to midnight for a second year in a row as scientists say “humanity continues to face an unprecedented level of danger”.

Maintaining last year’s setting – the closest to 12 it has ever been – means the clock’s keepers believe the threat of global apocalypse has not cooled off in the past 12 months.

And they emphasised it is not an indication of stability in the world.

Rachel Bronson, president and chief executive of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said: “Make no mistake: resetting the clock at 90 seconds to midnight is not an indication that the world is stable.

“Quite the opposite. It’s urgent for governments and communities around the world to act.

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become a “battle for ammunition,” the head of Nato has warned, as the alliance signed a £950 million contract to buy hundreds of thousands of vital artillery rounds to help Kyiv’s battle against Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance had signed contracts to purchase 220,000 rounds of 155-millimetre ammunition.

“This is important to defend our own territory, to build up our own stocks, but also to continue to support Ukraine,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “Russia’s war in Ukraine has become a battle for ammunition, so allies must refill their own stocks, as we continue to support Ukraine.”

Mr Stoltenberg said of the Nato deal: “We cannot allow President Putin to win in Ukraine. That would be a tragedy for the Ukrainians and dangerous for all of us.”

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Three new Russian strikes damaged infrastructure on Tuesday in a district of Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said.

Synehubov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said it was the third wave of attacks on the city in a single day. There was no immediate word on casualties, he said, but emergency services were at the scene.

Officials in Kharkiv had earlier reported eight killed in missile attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said Russian missile strikes throughout the country killed 18 people and injured more than 130.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said more than 200 sites were struck, including 139 dwellings.

Officials in Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city, had earlier said eight that had died in an attack on an apartment building.