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KYIV, Ukraine — Officials across the country reported several Russian strikes, including in the capital and the regions of Vinnytsia and Odessa, which left at least 11 people dead and 11 injured, according to emergency services spokesman Oleksandr Khorunzhyi. Washington Post correspondents in Kyiv heard at least two explosions early Thursday, while the head of the Kyiv military administration, Serhiy Popko, said that “about 20 missiles of various types were detected in Kyiv’s airspace” and that “all aerial targets [were] destroyed.”
The strikes were launched a day after allies agreed to send tanks to the battlefield. Ukrainian officials welcomed the U.S. and German decisions to send M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks, respectively, and pressed for more military support, including fighter jets and long-range missiles. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such international weapons support would be “perceived as direct involvement in the conflict.”
The United States on Thursday designated the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary outfit fighting in Ukraine, a “transnational criminal organization.” The White House had said the move was coming. A slate of sanctions announced by the Treasury Department under the new designation is meant to target the group’s international support network. The company, which Washington says has 40,000 convicts, some required directly from Russian prisons, and 10,000 contractors deployed to Ukraine, is also active in the Central African Republic and Mali.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Ukrainian journalists are uncovering Ukrainian corruption: A number of senior Ukrainian officials resigned or faced dismissal this week over allegations of corruption — a deeply uncomfortable development for the country at a time when the world has rallied around it, providing defense and financial support.
Over the past few months, journalists in Ukraine have been on the trail, writes The Post’s Adam Taylor.
For one top Ukrainian official, the downfall came from a fatal weakness: a conspicuous interest in luxury cars. In October, Ukrainian news outlet Bihus.info shared photos of Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Zelensky’s office, driving a new Chevrolet Tahoe SUV that had been donated for humanitarian aid. Two months later, the news website Ukrainska Pravda reported that Tymoshenko had been filmed multiple times driving a 2021 Porsche Taycan, worth about $100,000.
Fighting corruption is one condition for European Union membership, a prize Ukraine has long been seeking.
Masih reported from Seoul, Suliman from London and Taylor from Washington. Natalia Abbakumova, Robyn Dixon, Dan Lamothe, Amar Nadhir and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.