Russia carried out this Friday (29) one of its largest missile attacks in the war against Ukraine, killing 31 civilians, wounding more than 120 and hitting residential buildings in Kiev in the south and west of the country, as well as a maternity hospital in the east, according to Information from the authorities.
NATO member Poland said a Russian missile appeared to have flown about 40 kilometers (25 miles) through its airspace before returning to Ukraine three minutes later. There was no immediate comment from Moscow and NATO said it remained “vigilant.”
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the massive yearend airstrike showed there should be “no ceasefire talks” with the Kremlin at a time when there is uncertainty over the future of vital Western support for Kiev.
“Today millions of Ukrainians woke up to the loud sound of explosions. I wish these sounds of explosions in Ukraine could be heard around the world,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, calling on Kiev’s allies to step up their support.
In the capital Kiev, officials said at least nine people were killed and 30 injured after residential buildings and other unoccupied properties were hit.
The Air Force said it shot down 87 cruise missiles and 27 drones in a total of 158 airstrikes by Russia.
Army chief Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said the attack hit key infrastructure, industrial and military facilities.
“Russia attacked with everything it has in its arsenal… About 110 missiles were fired, most were shot down,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
Ukraine has been warning for weeks that Russia could stockpile missiles to launch a major airstrike against its energy system. Last winter, millions of people were left in the dark as Russian attacks hit the power grid.
The State Department said Friday's attack was “one of the largest missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns” since Russia's invasion began in February 2022.
The presidential office put the death toll at 26, but data from several regions suggested that at least 31 people were killed.
As rescuers searched through the rubble of an attack on a house in the southeastern city of Zaporizhia, 73yearold Viktor Chuhunov told Portal he was at home when he suddenly heard a loud explosion.
“A woman died here. I don’t know if her son was home, maybe he was at work,” he said of the dilapidated house.
Eight people died and 13 were injured in the Zaporizhia region, the governor said. According to him, civil infrastructure facilities are also affected.
Six people were killed in the central Dnipropetrovsk region when rockets hit a shopping center, a house and a sixstory residential building, the governor said. The attack also caused a fire in a maternity ward, he added.
In the Black Sea port city of Odessa, four people were killed and at least 22 injured, including two children, when rockets struck residential buildings, the region's governor said.
One person was killed in a damaged multistory apartment building in the city of Lviv, the regional governor said. According to the mayor, three schools and a kindergarten were also damaged.
In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, a rocket attack damaged a warehouse, an industrial plant, a medical facility and a transport depot, the regional governor said. Three people were killed and 13 others were injured.
*Reproduction of this content is prohibited.