The sound of explosions echoed through central Kiev during the morning rush hour on Monday as the Ukrainian military warned of a massive Russian missile and drone attack, following waves of drone attacks in the early hours. The air force warned the population that Russia had 11 TU-95 strategic bombers in the air and confirmed the launch of several missiles. At least three civilians have been killed in several regions of the country in the massive attack targeting energy infrastructure. Reuters has confirmed the death of a member of their team in the attack on a hotel in Kramatorsk on Sunday.
According to several official spokespeople, the attack launched by Russia was primarily aimed at the energy sector. More than half of Ukraine’s regions were hit early Monday by large-scale Russian missile and drone strikes, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal. “Today, 15 regions have been hit by a massive Russian attack. The enemy used various types of weapons: drones, cruise missiles and Kinzhals (supersonic missiles). There are wounded and dead,” Shmihal reported on the Telegram messaging app.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klychko has confirmed that there have been power outages in some districts of the capital and power companies have announced emergency cuts as a result of the attack.
One Ukrainian civilian was killed on Monday morning in the northwestern Ukrainian city of Lutsk, and two others were killed in the central and southeastern regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia.
“As a result of the enemy attack, an infrastructure in Lutsk has been damaged. At the moment, we have information about one death,” the mayor of the city, Igor Polishchuk, wrote on his Telegram account, after previously reporting damage to a residential building.
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In Dnipropetrovsk, a 69-year-old man was killed in the attack, the governor of the region, Sergey Lisak, said. Meanwhile, the head of the Zaporizhia Military Administration, Ivan Fedorov, reported that one person had died in the region.
The Polish Armed Forces’ Operational Command reported on social media X that Polish and allied aviation had been activated after Russia launched the attack, which also targeted regions in western Ukraine and near the Polish border.
Expected attack
Ukrainians have long been expecting a major Russian missile attack. The US embassy warned last week of a heightened risk of an attack around Ukraine’s Independence Day, which fell on Saturday.
Ukraine has also stepped up long-range drone strikes against Russia in an attempt to strike back at Moscow. “The desire to destroy our energy will cost the Russians dearly – their infrastructure,” proclaimed Andrii Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Telegram, in a message suggesting the invaded country is preparing retaliation against Russia.
Russia launched two waves of drone strikes early Monday, according to the Ukrainian military. Up to 10 drones were destroyed on their approach to kyiv, Serhii Popko, head of the Kiev military administration, reported on Telegram.
Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed nine drones over the Saratov region, some 900 kilometres from the Ukrainian border. Earlier, regional governor Roman Basurgin said emergency services had been deployed to the affected locations in Saratov and Engels, key towns in the region several hundred kilometres south-east of the capital. Russia has a strategic bomber military base in Engels that Ukraine has attacked numerous times since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians. Each says its strikes are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to the other’s war effort.
Attack on the press in Kramatorsk
A Russian airstrike on the town of Kramatorsk, near the Donetsk front, killed a Reuters reporting team member, a security adviser, and wounded three journalists on Sunday.
“Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team covering the war in Ukraine, was killed and two Reuters journalists were wounded in an attack on a hotel in the city of Kramatorsk,” the international news agency confirmed on Sunday. According to other reports, a fourth Polish reporter was injured when her vehicle was hit.
“In the middle of the night, the Russians attacked Kramatorsk. One of the targets in the city was a hotel. We now know of two wounded and one person is still buried under the rubble,” Donetsk Governor Vadim Filashkin said on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
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