Ukraine’s two largest cities came under attack early Tuesday from Russian missiles that killed five people and injured as many as 130, officials said, as the war approached its two-year mark and the Kremlin stepped up its winter bombardment of urban areas.
Russia launched 100 missiles of various types, including 10 Kinzhal missiles that can fly at 10 times the speed of sound, said Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief. Ukrainian air defences shot down all 10 of the Kinzhal missiles, he said.
But other missiles got through in Kyiv and in Kharkiv, the provincial capital of the northeastern region. In Kyiv and the surrounding region, four people were killed and about 70 were wounded, while in the Kharkiv region, one person was killed and about 60 were hurt, the Interior Ministry said.
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal is an air-launched ballistic missile that is rarely used by Russian forces due to its cost and limited stocks. The barrage fired Tuesday was the highest number used in one attack since the start of the war, Ukraine air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said.
The latest round of attacks by Russia began Friday with its largest single assault on Ukraine of the war, as fighting along the 1,000-kilometre front line has subsided into grinding attrition amid winter. At least 41 civilians have been killed since the weekend.
Air attacks between Russia and Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks, with increased missile and drone strikes by Russia and Ukraine hitting the Russian city of Belgorod.
At a nine-storey Kyiv apartment building where two people were killed, 48-year-old Inna Luhina was getting ready for work when a blast shattered her windows and she and other family members, including her 80-year-old mother, were struck by flying glass.
More than 100 survivors gathered at a school set up as a temporary shelter.
Iryna Dzyhil, a 55-year-old resident of the same building, said the explosion threw her and her husband from their chairs, and a subsequent fire trapped them on the top floor until emergency crews rescued them via the roof.
“They say they’re hitting military targets, but they’re hitting people, killing our children and our loved ones,” Dzyhil said of the Russians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X, formerly Twitter, that at least 70 of the 100 Russian missiles were shot down, almost all of them in the Kyiv area. He noted that Western-supplied air defence systems, such as Patriots and NASAMS, had saved hundreds of lives.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had launched missile and drone strikes on military industrial facilities in and around Kyiv, as well as depots storing missiles and munitions supplied by the West.
“The goal of the strike has been achieved, all the targets have been hit,” it said without elaborating.
It was not possible to independently verify either side’s claims.
In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said that since Friday, Russia has used almost 300 missiles and more than 200 Shahed drones against Ukraine.
The attacks created a desolate morning scene in Kyiv, with most cafes and restaurants remaining closed. Many people opted to stay indoors or seek refuge in shelters as powerful blasts shook the city starting early in the morning. Air raid sirens blared for nearly four hours, and the city’s subway stations — which serve as shelters — were crowded.
After the air force issued warnings about incoming missiles, people wearing pyjamas underneath their coats took sleeping bags, mats and their pets to subway stations as loud explosions echoed above. At one of the central stations, called Golden Gates, hundreds of people filled the spacious underground areas while trains continued to run.
“Perhaps today was the most frightening because there were so many explosions,” said resident Myroslava Shcherba.
Attacks in Russia
On Saturday, shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod killed more than two dozen people. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack and has struck back repeatedly since then.
The Belgorod attack was one of the deadliest on Russian soil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started more than 22 months ago. Russian officials said the death toll reached 26, including five children, after a new salvo of rockets Tuesday.
Air defence systems near Belgorod shot down four missiles fired Tuesday by a Ukrainian Vilkha multiple rocket launcher, the Russian Defence Ministry said. Over the previous 24 hours, Ukraine has carried out at least 50 attacks, including shelling and explosives from drones, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. One person was killed and 11 others were injured by the shelling, he said.
Repeated attacks on Belgorod also prompted city authorities to temporarily shut some of its cinemas and malls. Announcing the closures on Telergam, Mayor Valentin Demidov said that “everyone should stay home as much as possible” in light of the attacks.
Cities in western Russia have regularly come under drone attack since May, although Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for strikes on Russian territory or the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
“They want to intimidate us and create uncertainty within our country. We will intensify strikes. Not a single crime against our civilian population will go unpunished,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday, describing the barrage of Belgorod as a “terrorist act.”
He accused Western nations of using Ukraine to try to “put Russia in its place.” While vowing retribution, he insisted Moscow would only target military infrastructure in Ukraine, but officials in Kyiv report civilian casualties from daily attacks on apartment buildings, shopping centres and residential areas.
In other developments, Russia’s Defence Ministry said one of its warplanes accidentally released munitions over the southwestern Russian village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region Tuesday, damaging six houses but causing no injuries. It said an investigation will determine the cause of the accident but didn’t say what type of weapon the warplane dropped.
In April, munitions accidentally released by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast in Belgorod, damaging several cars and slightly injuring two people.