Massive Russian attack on cities across Ukraine kills at least ten people
Russian strikes across multiple Ukrainian cities killed at least ten people early Tuesday, including six in Dnipro and four in the capital Kyiv, in what officials described as one of Moscow’s largest aerial assaults in recent months. Dozens were injured, several of them children, as overnight airstrikes hit apartment blocks, with emergency crews racing to locate people feared trapped under rubble in Kyiv. Air raid warnings were in effect across most of Ukraine during the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Strikes on Kyiv and Dnipro
Large plumes of smoke rose from central Kyiv as strikes hit multiple locations. Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters, warning that people may be trapped under the debris of damaged buildings. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s Military Administration, said: “The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles.” Between the early-morning explosions, the buzz of drones could be heard over more than a dozen loud impacts. The attack caused fires near a gas station, a construction site, several apartment blocks, and two houses, Klitschko reported. Blackouts were reported across the city. An industrial facility was also attacked in Zaporizhzhia.
Russian warning and response
Moscow last week warned it would launch “systematic strikes” on Ukraine in response to a Ukrainian drone attack last month on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held Luhansk region, which killed 21 people. In a statement at the time, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said it did carry out an attack near Starobilsk on the night of 21-22 May, but maintains that it struck a Russian military unit. Kyiv described Russia’s threats as “nothing short of shameless blackmail” and urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow.
Zelensky’s warning and additional attacks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday reiterated warnings of a possible large Russian strike and urged residents to pay special attention to air raid alerts. “Intelligence warnings regarding Russian strikes remain in effect. A massive strike is possible, they have prepared one,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. In Russia, the Krasnodar Krai emergency response centre reported a fire at the Ilsky Oil Refinery following a drone attack. There were no casualties, according to the emergency service.
Previous escalation cycle
Since a brief ceasefire expired in May, Russia has launched several waves of missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, among them strikes on a block of flats that killed 24 people, including three children. A Ukrainian drone attack on the Moscow region killed three people, in what Zelensky said was an “entirely justified” response to Russian attacks. Last week Russia said it would target military and decision-making centres in Kyiv, and urged foreigners to leave the city in what it said was a response to Ukraine deliberately striking a dormitory in Starobilsk.
Context
The current barrage follows a pattern of reciprocal strikes that escalated after the expiry of a short-lived ceasefire in May. Similar waves of Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv have targeted residential buildings, including a strike on a block of flats that killed 24 people, including three children. Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory, including a strike on the Moscow region that killed three people, have been framed by Zelensky as “entirely justified” retaliation.