Russia unleashed a barrage of supersonic missiles and guided rockets on Ukrainian targets yesterday, conducting a large-scale attack on areas near the frontline in the east, as well as in central and western parts of the country.
Reports suggest that at least four civilians were killed, with over 30 others injured. Moscow stated that its forces “used long-range precision missiles launched from sea or air” and evacuated approximately 300 residents from a border town with Ukraine, which has been under threat of retaliatory attacks.
The attacks on Ukraine yesterday targeted key urban areas across the country, with Russia firing 51 missiles of various types and deploying eight drones. Ukraine’s General Commander, Valeriy Zaluzhny, confirmed that “Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 18 guided missiles and all drones.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have used long-range precision missiles, including the “Kh-47M2 Kinzhal,” which exceeds the speed of sound, to strike what it referred to as “Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities.”
In the Dnipropetrovsk region in the southeast of Ukraine, a woman was killed in a missile strike outside the city of Kryvyi Rih, and 24 people were injured in an attack on the town of Novomoskovsk.
Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, witnessed damage to more than 20 houses and shopping centers in the attack, according to regional governor Serhiy Lisak.
At least four missiles landed on Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, injuring one person, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Authorities in the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine reported, “Two people were killed when at least six explosions were heard during the morning missile attack.”
In Zaporizhzhia, a major city in the south situated on the Dnieper River, two people were injured in a missile strike on a residential area, according to regional governor Yuriy Malashko.
Meanwhile, Russian forces launched 131 artillery attacks on the Kherson region, resulting in two deaths and five injuries, according to regional governor Oleksandr Brovko.
The city of Kherson and its surrounding areas have been continuously targeted since Russian forces withdrew from the city to the eastern side of the Dnieper River in the fall of 2022.
Ukrainian military officials in other regions, including Dnipropetrovsk and Khmelnytskyi, reported that their cities also faced “heavy missile attacks” from Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities evacuated approximately 300 residents of a border town with Ukraine that has been under attack by Ukrainian forces in recent days, according to Viatsheslav Gladkov, the regional governor. Gladkov stated in a video message on Telegram, “We are currently accommodating about 300 residents of Bilhorod, who have decided to leave temporarily, in shelter centers” in three locations further from the border.
In the aftermath of nearly two years of war, both sides have resorted to increasing aerial strikes on each other’s territories after struggling to gain significant ground along the frontlines. In this context, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had intercepted a Ukrainian missile, a modified “S-200,” over the Belgorod region, after it had been altered to target ground-based objectives.
