Russia launches barrage of more than 120 missiles at major Ukrainian cities

Russia launched dozens of missiles against Ukraine overnight that largely landed in the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s military said Russia used 69 rockets in the latest round of attacks, including Iranian-made kamikaze drones, and that Ukraine destroyed 54 of the rockets.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russia had launched more than 120 missiles that destroyed Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and killed civilians.

The strikes mark the latest in a series of missile barrages launched by Russia that have landed in places far from the war’s frontlines, which largely lie in the country’s east in places like Bakhmut. 

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service wrote on Telegram that it received reports of damage in several districts of Kyiv overnight, the country’s capital that is located hundreds of miles from the regions Russia claimed to annex earlier this year.

The fall of a fragment of one downed Russian missile caused a fire and destruction of a two-story residential building, and at another address, the roof of a building collapsed, according to the agency.

“Rescuers continue search and rescue operations. Information about the victims is being clarified,” the State Emergency Service wrote.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko indicated that three people were hospitalized because of the strikes, including a 14-year-old girl.

He added that 40 percent of residents were without electricity in the capital following the missile strikes.

“Power engineers are currently working on restoring the power supply,” Klitschko wrote on Telegram. “The city supplies heat and water as usual. In addition to houses where there is no energy supply, on which the operation of boiler rooms depends.”

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Russia launched 13 Iranian-made drones, according to the region’s governor, Oleh Synyehubov. Eleven were shot down by the Ukrainian military.

“There are hits in the objects of the city’s critical infrastructure,” Synyehubov wrote on Telegram “Fortunately, no one was hurt. At the moment, work on the elimination of the consequences is ongoing.”