KYIV: Russia pummelled Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles early Tuesday, killing at least 21 people, days after threatening a large-scale attack and warning foreign citizens to leave Kyiv.
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital had warned that Russia was preparing the latest in a string of massive deadly strikes that have escalated the four-year-old war and dimmed the slim hopes for peace.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones, adding that 54 drones and 33 missiles had penetrated its multi-layered air defence system.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard air raid sirens wailing over the city before a series of loud explosions that lasted through Monday night sent residents with bags and blankets rushing to shelter in crowded metro stations.
Anastasia, whose residential building was damaged in the attack, said she spent a “loud” and “terrifying” night huddled in her bathroom.
“All the windows were blown out completely; there are no windows at all. It wasn’t just one explosion here all night. The night here was just a nightmare,” she told AFP.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the attack was a sign of Russian desperation, that President Vladimir Putin was bombing civilians since his forces were struggling on the battlefield.
“Putin is a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror. Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this,” Sybiga said in a social media statement.
President Volodymyr Zelensky used the attack to make a new appeal for US military support.
“Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defence so that this war can finally be brought to an end. And assistance from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
The French foreign ministry in response denounced Moscow’s “utter contempt” for peace efforts while the United Nations said Moscow’s “inflammatory rhetoric and escalation of attacks should stop”.
Moscow has bombarded Ukraine almost daily since launching its invasion in February 2022, a war that is now the bloodiest on European soil since World War II, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced.
Russia said that it had carried out a huge strike, including with hypersonic missiles, targeting Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.
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