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Drone and missile barrage
Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 130, with the capital Kyiv the main target of Moscow’s latest long-range barrage.
“Russia launches 'horrific' drone, missile strikes on Ukraine, killing 22: Officials Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones”
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the most significant damage was wrought in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv regions, and local officials said at least six people were killed in Kyiv and 16 people—including two children—were killed in Dnipro.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted or suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones, while Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its forces “launched a massive strike” using high-precision long-range weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said among the buildings damaged by the “large-scale attack” were four medical facilities, and Ruslan Stefanchuk said the most serious damage in Kyiv was reported in the Podilskyi district where a Russian strike collapsed a nine-story residential building.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia’s latest “horrific attack” showed Vladimir Putin was “a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror,” as ABC News reported the strike targeted military-industrial, fuel and transport facilities and military bases across multiple regions.
Shelters, fear, and appeals
In Kyiv, Al Jazeera reported that “Subways and shelters were packed to the brim” from Monday night until about 7am (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday, as Audrey MacAlpine said many Ukrainians had been sheltering in place despite expecting the attack.
MacAlpine said the Russian strike marked the “second massive attack on the capital” over the past 10 days, and she described “a lot of fear here in the capital over the past several days” as residents anticipated it.
Zelenskyy used the attack to make a new appeal for military support from the United States, writing that “Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defence so that this war can finally be brought to an end.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha framed the strikes as a sign of Russian desperation, saying “Putin is a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror. Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this,” in a social media statement.
CBS News added that Zelenskyy said the “current level of supplies for our air defense does not allow us to shoot down a significant share of the missiles,” while he also said 130 people were injured in the blitz.
What comes next
Zelenskyy said the attack underscored Ukraine’s need for air defense and urged Europe to develop its own anti-ballistic defense, while also calling for “help of the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems” after Russia’s barrage.
The Guardian reported that Zelenskyy wrote on social media that “Europe needs its own anti-ballistic missiles so that this war can finally end,” and that “we definitely need the help of the United States in supplying missiles such as Patriots.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the strikes targeted Ukraine’s “military-industrial” facilities and other sites, while the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “This practice will continue,” describing the strikes as systematic retaliation.
AP reported that residents had been on edge for days after Russia warned last week that a massive aerial attack was coming and told foreign diplomats to leave, and it said none appeared to heed the call as no embassies immediately reported damage.
As the fighting escalated, the BBC said Ukraine’s government would launch an immediate investigation and Labour Minister Tahmina Akhter said the government would “hold the owners fully accountable,” even as the ABC News report described Russia’s claims of hitting designated objects across Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions.
