According to authorities, the forces of the Kremlin targeted both the capital city of Kyiv and the northern Kharkiv area, whose provincial capital is also named Kharkiv.
Russian missiles attacked Ukraine's two major towns on Tuesday, causing five fatalities and over 100 injuries, according to officials. The strike coincided with the war's second anniversary and the Kremlin's increased wintertime shelling of cities.
The strike claimed the lives of five civilians and left 127 others wounded, according to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on Tuesday night. Russian Kinzhal missiles, which have a speed of ten times the speed of sound, were shot down by air defenses. According to authorities, the forces of the Kremlin targeted both the capital city of Kyiv and the northern Kharkiv area, whose provincial capital is also named Kharkiv.
Regarding the death toll, there was considerable uncertainty as Kharkiv Gov. After saying that the injured woman who was previously believed to have been killed was in a coma, Oleh Syniehubov changed his account from one fatality to two. 52 people were injured in Kharkhiv, he said.
Out of around 100 different types of missiles launched, air defenses shot down all 10 of the hypersonic missiles, according to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi. According to air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat, it was the most Kinzhals that Russia had used in a single attack since the war's beginning.
As warfare along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has cooled into grinding attrition in the dead of winter, Russia launched an unprecedented volley of strikes on Ukraine on Friday. Since the weekend, at least 41 civilians have lost their lives.
48-year-old Inna Luhina was getting ready for work at a nine-story apartment building in Kyiv where two people were killed when a blast smashed her windows, sending flying glass at her and other family members, including her 80-year-old mother.
Over a hundred survivors convened at a school that was converted into a makeshift refuge.
The explosion flung Iryna Dzyhil, a 55-year-old tenant of the same building, and her husband from their seats. She added that after the explosion, they were stranded on the top level until rescue personnel arrived via the roof.
Dzyhil criticized the Russians, saying, "They say they're hitting military targets, but they're hitting people, killing our children and our loved ones."Nearly 100 different types of missiles were fired by Russia during the attacks, according to Zelenskyy on X, formerly Twitter. He stated that at least 70 were shot down, practically all of them in the vicinity of Kiev, and that hundreds of lives had been saved by air defense systems provided by the West, like NASAMS and Patriots.
The Defense Ministry of Russia reported that it had attacked military industrial facilities in and around Kiev with missiles and drones. According to the report, depots holding weaponry and missiles supplied by the West were also targeted.
Without providing any details, it stated, "The strike's objective has been met; all of the targets have been hit."
Independent verification of the claims made by either side was not possible.According to Zelenskyy, Russian forces have fired dozens of missiles and about 170 Shahed drones since Sunday, the majority of which were directed towards civilian areas.
A hypersonic ballistic missile launched from the air is called the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal. Due of a shortage of these costly missiles, Russian forces hardly ever utilize them against Ukraine.
With most cafés and restaurants still closed, the attacks left Kyiv with a dismal morning sight. As strong explosions rocked the city starting in the early hours of the morning, many chose to stay inside or take shelter in shelters. There was a lot of activity at the city's subway stations, which serve as shelters, and air raid sirens were sounding for over four hours.
People wearing pajamas underneath their coats dragged sleeping bags, mats, and dogs to subway stations as thunderous explosions resounded overhead following air force warnings about approaching missiles. Trains kept running, but hundreds of passengers crammed the vast subterranean spaces at one of the main stations, Golden Gates.
Myroslava Shcherba, a resident, stated, "Maybe because there were so many explosions today was the most frightening."
Over two dozen people were killed on Saturday when Belgorod, a city bordering Russia, was shelled. After accusing Ukraine of being behind the attack, Russia has retaliated on several occasions.
One of the worst assaults on Russian soil since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than 22 months ago was the one that occurred in Belgorod. Following a further rocket volley on Tuesday, Russian officials said that the dead toll had reached 26, including five children.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, air defense systems close to Belgorod intercepted four missiles fired by a Ukrainian Vilkha multiple rocket launcher on Tuesday. In the last twenty-four hours, Ukraine has carried out at least 50 attacks, including shelling and explosives from drones, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Drone assaults on Russian land and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula have been occurring on a regular basis since May, although Ukrainian officials have never admitted responsibility for the attacks.
"They aim to instill fear in us and uncertainty in our nation. We're going to step up our strikes. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, declared on Monday that "not a single crime against our civilian population will go unpunished" and called the Belgorod bombardment a "terrorist act."
He said that Western countries were attempting to "put Russia in its place" by utilizing Ukraine. He said Moscow would only hit Ukraine's military facilities while threatening retaliation, while Kyiv officials are reporting civilian casualties from daily attacks on residential areas, shopping malls, and apartment buildings.
In other news, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that on Tuesday, one of its jets unintentionally dropped bombs over the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh area of southwest Russia, resulting in damage to six houses but no casualties. It added that the cause of the mishap will be investigated, although it didn't specify what kind of weapon the warplane dropped.
A Russian warplane's unintentional deployment of ammunition in April resulted in a strong explosion in Belgorod that damaged multiple cars and slightly injured two individuals.
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