Russia pounds Ukrainian cities with over 100 missiles and dozens of drones in response to Kyiv’s cross-border offensive
The Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive attack on civilian infrastructure throughout Ukraine on Monday, using various types of missiles and combat drones. The attack began shortly after midnight and lasted throughout the night and morning. According to maps of missile and drone movements published by Ukrainian media, the strikes targeted regions in western, eastern, and central Ukraine. The air raid alert in Kyiv continued for about eight hours and later resumed briefly to warn residents of possible renewed drone attacks.
The attack targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, according to Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko. Writing on Facebook, he said that Russia “has not abandoned its plans to deprive Ukraine of electricity” and that emergency power outages had been implemented across Ukraine. “The situation is difficult and the effects of the attack are still being assessed. Energy workers are working to restore the damage,” Halushchenko reported. Altogether, Russian attacks affected 15 of Ukraine’s regions and damaged energy infrastructure in several of them, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
According to reports from regional authorities, energy facilities and other infrastructure were damaged in the Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Lviv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Odesa, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
Two energy facilities were damaged in the Kyiv region, according to the Ukrainian authorities. One of them was the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant in Vyshhorod, just kilometers from the capital. According to the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, the dam’s roadway and the power station’s engine room were affected. Local official Serhiy Knyzhnykov reported that traffic across the dam in both directions was blocked.
Footage from Monday’s attacks
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Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, reported that the dam itself was not under threat. “It’s impossible for it to be destroyed with missiles,” he wrote on Telegram.
A video circulating online that was reportedly filmed near the Kyiv Hydroelectric Power Plant appears to show a missile landing in the water of the Kyiv Reservoir.
Multiple residential buildings came under fire. Authorities in Kyiv reported that Russia’s attack damaged high-rise apartment buildings and private homes, as well as railway facilities, vehicles, warehouses, and other civilian structures. In the Poltava region, an industrial facility was reportedly hit.
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In the city of Lutsk in the Volyn region, an apartment building was struck by a Russian drone.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service published photos of the aftermath of the drone strike.
Multiple civilians were killed and dozens were injured in Russia’s attacks. According to reports from regional authorities, one civilian was killed in the Volyn region; one was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk region; one was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region; one was killed in the Zhytomyr region; and one was killed in the Kharkiv region. Five people were injured in both the Volyn and Poltava regions, four were injured in the Odesa region, and three were injured in both the Mykolaiv and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. The State Emergency Service has not yet published overall figures on the number of casualties from the attack, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that “dozens” of people were injured.
Monday’s attack was one of the largest combined assaults against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war, Zelensky said. According to the president, Russian troops used more than 100 missiles of various types and approximately 100 Shahed combat drones. On Monday evening, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported that Russian troops fired 127 missiles, including three Kinzhal missiles, 77 Kh-101 missiles, 28 Kalibr cruise missiles, three Kh-22 missiles, and three Kh-59/Kh-69 guided aircraft missiles, as well as 109 Shahed combat drones. He said Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 102 missiles an 99 drones, and that two drones crossed into Belarus.
Commenting on Monday’s attacks, Volodymyr Zelensky called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “sick creature.” Zelensky’s addressed the Ukrainian people in a video statement:
Putin remains true to himself. He’s a sick creature — that’s long been clear to everyone. But what’s no less clear is that he can only do what the world allows him to do. Weakness and insufficient responses only feed terrorism. And every leader, every one of our partners, knows what strong actions are needed to end this war and end it justly. Ukraine can’t have weapon range restrictions when the terrorists face no such restrictions. The defenders of life cannot have limitations on their weaponry while Russia uses all kinds of weapons, including [Iranian-made] Shahed drones and ballistic missiles from North Korea. The U.S., Great Britain, France, and other partners have the power to help us stop terrorism. We need decisions.
In the course of Russia’s attack, an unidentified object entered Poland’s airspace and appears to have crashed on Polish territory, Poland’s Armed Forces General Command reported, according to Radio Liberty. The object, which is suspected to be a missile or drone, crossed Poland’s air border near the Ukrainian city of Chervonohrad in the Lviv region and disappeared from radar screens after traveling 25 kilometers (15 miles) over Polish territory. Search operations are underway.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian troops targeted energy facilities that support Ukraine’s defense industry. During a press briefing, a ministry spokesperson told reporters that Russian forces “carried out a massive attack using precision weapons” on critical energy infrastructure.
According to the Russian authorities, the attack’s targets included electrical substations in the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, and Odesa regions. The Defense Ministry also said it hit gas compressor plants in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kharkiv regions that support Ukraine’s gas transportation system. It also said it targeted airfields in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where “aircraft weapons” supplied to Ukraine by Western countries were stored.
“All designated targets have been hit, resulting in power outages and disruptions to the transport of weapons and ammunition to the front line,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
Russian State Duma Defense Committee chairman Andrey Kartapolov said that Monday’s attack was a response to the Ukrainian military’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk region. “There will be more to come,” he said.
Kyiv will prepare a response to Russia’s attack, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said. “Last night, Russia attacked our cities once again. Civilians were injured, homes were destroyed, and critical infrastructure was damaged. This proves yet again that to achieve victory, we need long-range capabilities and the removal of restrictions on strikes against enemy military targets. Ukraine is preparing its response. Using our own weapons,” he wrote on Facebook.