At least four civilians were killed after Russia launched another massive wave of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine.
Air raid alerts rang out across the country early yesterday morning as the onslaught hit multiple targets in cities, which included Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Kharkiv.
Oleksandr Vilkul, mayor of Kryvyi Rih, said on the Telegram messaging app: “The enemy is viciously attacking peaceful cities.”
A 62-year-old was killed in the southern city where nine missiles hit a shopping centre and scores of houses and blocks of flats. Another civilian was killing in a separate strike but no details were given.
Two people were killed in the western Khmelnytskyi region, where critical infrastructure was also reported to have been hit.
Five blasts were heard in Zaporizhzhia where at least two people were injured. Yuriy Malashko, the regional governor, said on Telegram: “Missiles hit residential areas.”
Military officials in other cities, including Dnipro, also described coming under a “massive missile attack” by Russia.
Ukraine reported that the weapons used in the onslaught included cruise missiles launched at least 10 times by Tu-95 bombers overflying the Caspian Sea.
Missiles were also unleashed from MiG-31K warplanes. And ballistic missiles were fired from occupied Crimea and the Russian region of Belgorod.
In recent weeks, Russia has launched some of its largest attacks on Kyiv, as well as Kharkiv.
Yesterday’s assault followed a series of drone and missile attacks at the weekend. Two people were killed and several injured in Kherson. Twelve people were injured in a strike on Dnipro.
At a meeting with families of soldiers killed in Ukraine on the eve of Orthodox Christmas at the weekend, Russian president Vladimir Putin said: “Many of our men, our courageous, heroic guys, Russian warriors, even now, on this holiday, defend the interests of our country with arms in hand.”
