Russia launched a huge missile attack on Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, resulting in over 20 civilian deaths and significant damage to infrastructure, including Kyiv’s main children’s hospital. This marks the deadliest air strike in months, according to Ukrainian officials.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that Russia fired over 40 missiles, targeting residential and commercial buildings in Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, and two eastern cities. The capital, Kyiv, bore the brunt of the attack with 10 fatalities and 35 injuries in the initial wave. A subsequent strike on another Kyiv hospital claimed four more lives and injured three.
The industrial city of Kryvyi Rih suffered 11 confirmed deaths and over 40 injuries. In the eastern town of Pokrovsk, three people were killed when missiles hit an industrial facility, while one fatality was reported in Dnipro.
President Zelenskiy called for global action against Russian air strikes, stating, “The whole world must act as decisively as it can to put an end to Russian air strikes. Murder – this is what Putin brings.”
Denying allegations of targeting civilians, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed the strikes only targeted defence industry facilities and aviation bases in Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov highlighted the country’s ongoing need for more air defence systems to protect cities and infrastructure from regular Russian aerial attacks.
The strikes have also impacted Ukraine’s power grid, with DTEK reporting damage to three electricity substations and networks in the capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described this as one of the largest attacks on the capital since the war began.
