Russian forces have targeted a multitude of regions across Ukraine with missile and drone assaults, resulting in the death of at least five individuals, officials declared on Tuesday. These attacks came a day after the deadliest air raid by Russia on Ukraine until now.
A missile strike completely decimated a hotel in Kryvyi Rih, situated in the centre of the country, resulting in the death of two people, according to regional representatives. Furthermore, drone strikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast resulted in three fatalities.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, declared on Tuesday in retaliation to Russia’s assaults, Ukraine would strike back. He requested allies to think about concerted air defence operations and provide long-range capabilities following Russia’s extensive assault on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with more than 200 missiles and drones on Monday.
Amidst the attack on Tuesday, Ukraine’s air force managed to shoot down five of the ten missiles incoming and 60 of the 81 drones. It further reported losing radar contact with ten other drones, indicating potential crashes within Ukrainian territory. One drone managed to cross into Belarusian airspace, while at least ten more drones remained operational within Ukrainian airspace as of Tuesday morning.
The Russian defence ministry claimed carrying out an overnight precision strike in Ukraine, following reports by Interfax news agency. Despite the full-scale invasion into Ukraine launched in February 2022, Moscow maintains its denial of deliberately targeting civilians even while thousands have lost their lives.
According to several Russian military bloggers, Moscow’s attacks were in direct “retaliation” to Ukraine’s unforeseen intrusion into the western Kursk region of Russia, a first since World War II.
Kyiv’s military administration refuted reports of casualties from the city, noting that all inbound threats were successfully neutralised by its air defences. They also said the minor fires caused by falling debris were quickly extinguished by emergency services.
The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lisak, indicated on Telegram that there might be two individuals stuck under the Kryvyi Rih hotel’s rubble, with five wounded in the strike. Additionally, missile strikes injured three people in the Zaporizhzhia region and four in the northeastern Kharkiv region overnight. – Reuters