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On Saturday, Ukraine urged China to join the West in condemning “Russian savagery,” after Moscow claimed it had hit a Ukrainian munitions storage with hypersonic missiles, the first time the next-generation weaponry had been used in combat.
Russia claimed its troops had burst past Ukrainian defences to invade the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, a scene of increasing desperation, near the country’s western Romanian border.
With the invasion now in its fourth week, Kyiv’s beleaguered leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called for “serious” discussions to end the violence that has displaced at least 3.3 million Ukrainians.
Mikhailo Podolyak, a prominent Zelensky aide, pleaded with China to denounce the invasion.
“If it makes the right decision to support the civilised countries’ alliance and denounce Russian savagery,” he added on Twitter, China may play a critical role in world security.
Russia’s assertion on Saturday that it had launched its new hypersonic Kinzhal missile marked a major new escalation in the country’s drive to persuade Ukraine to give up on prospects of closer ties with the West.
The arms stockpile in the western village of Deliatyn had undoubtedly been hit, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ignat, but “we have no information as to the type of missile.”
The Kinzhal missile, which was presented by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, has been dubbed “an ideal weapon” since it travels at 10 times the speed of sound, making it extremely difficult for missile defences to intercept.
