Russia bombarded Ukraine’s capital with one of the largest ballistic missile assaults of the war before dawn on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said, the third major attack on the capital, Kyiv, in the past 35 days.
As smoke still hung over the city and rescue teams raced to strike locations, city officials said one person had been killed and more than 15 had been injured. Officials said that toll would most likely grow.
The sustained campaign aimed at Kyiv has coincided with Ukraine’s own increasingly successful targeting of Russian oil and gas facilities — which has prompted fuel shortages across the country — to take the war closer to Russia. Over the weekend, Ukraine expanded that campaign, striking two warehouses belonging to Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries.
Russian authorities said at least eight people were killed and 62 injured in the strikes.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said that the warehouses functioned as “major logistics facilities” that had been used to “supply sanctioned components for drone production and navigation equipment.”
Ukraine also continued its campaign to isolate Crimea, targeting facilities across the occupied peninsula and ships in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
With movement on the front line mostly stalled — as both armies are largely unable to maneuver under skies swarming with drones — the air war on targets both inside Russia and Ukraine has intensified.
In addition to the attack on Kyiv on Sunday, at least two people were killed on Saturday in Odesa, including a child, when a Russian missile hit an amusement park in the seaside city, according to Ukrainian officials.
“In total, over the course of this week, Russia has used around 1,450 attack drones, more than 1,640 guided aerial bombs, and 99 missiles of various types against Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said in a statement.
The overnight attack on Kyiv on Sunday was part of a broader barrage that included at least 41 missiles and 125 drones of various types, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.
Ukrainian air defenses destroyed or suppressed 18 missiles and 108 drones, the air force said. The roar of Patriot interceptors being fired into the skies during the bombardment could be heard across Kyiv, but the authorities did not make public any information about how many of the American air-defense system were used.
Mr. Zelensky said the attack underscored the urgent need for more interceptor missiles.
“Interceptors are needed every day, and I am grateful to everyone who takes our agreements seriously and ensures the delivery of antiballistic capabilities,” he said. “Right now, these packages are literally saving lives during every massive Russian attack.”
The post Russia Batters Kyiv in Overnight Attack appeared first on New York Times.
