Russia launched missile and drone attacks targeting scores of Ukrainian regions and killing at least six people, officials said on Tuesday, a day after Moscow’s biggest air attack of the war on its neighbour.
Three people were killed when a hotel was “wiped out” by a missile in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said.
Five people were injured and one person was still missing after the strike, Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region that includes Kryvyi Rih, said on Telegram.
Separately, three people were killed in drone attacks on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.
Three people were also injured in the Zaporizhzhia region and four were hurt in a missile strike on the northeastern region of Kharkiv overnight, local authorities said.
Retaliation to come: Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukraine would retaliate against Russia.
He asked allies to consider joint air defence operations and provide long-range capabilities after Russia pummelled Ukrainian energy infrastructure with more than 200 missiles and drones on Monday.
Western allies have put restrictions on how weapons sent to Ukraine can be used. Zelenskyy has repeatedly advocated for Ukraine to be allowed to be able to use them to strike deep inside Russia.
″(The allies) try not to speak with me about it. But I keep raising this topic. Generally, that’s it. The Olympics are over, but the ping-pong continues,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Western nations were “asking for trouble” by considering such requests from Kyiv.
Front Burner24:35Will Ukraine’s attack inside Russia pay off?
Two and half years after Russia first invaded, Ukraine has launched what might be its boldest counterattack yet: a push into the Kursk region. It’s the first military incursion across Russian borders since the Second World War, drawing Russian troops away from key battle zones in eastern Ukraine.
Tim Mak, a Kyiv-based journalist who publishes the newsletter The Counteroffensive, explains why Ukraine is betting big on such a risky strategy, and whether it could change the course of this protracted war.
For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts [https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts]
During Tuesday’s attack, Ukraine downed five out of 10 incoming missiles and 60 out of 81 drones, the air force said. Zelenskyy said that some of the missiles were shot down with Western-provided F-16 fighter jets.
The Ukrainian air force lost track of 10 more drones that have likely come down somewhere on its territory, it said. One more crossed into Belarusian territory.
In the capital Kyiv, the military administration said air defences had shot down all incoming targets aimed at the city. There were no casualties and two small fires caused by debris were put out, local authorities said.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had carried out a high-precision weapon strike on Ukraine overnight, the Interfax news agency reported.
Moscow denies targeting civilians since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, although thousands have been killed.
Bloggers say attacks linked to Kursk
Several Russian military bloggers said Moscow’s attacks were an “act of retaliation” for Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region.
Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk began on Aug. 6. Its top military commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Tuesday that Ukraine controls nearly 1,300 square kilometres of Russian territory.
Syrskyi also said Ukraine has captured 594 Russian prisoners in the operation, which he said was intended to draw Russia’s military away from the fighting in Ukraine. His claims could not be independently confirmed.
The Kursk operation, the largest incursion into Russia since the Second World War, has forced some 130,000 residents to evacuate their homes.
Russia has sent reinforcements into the region, but it was not clear to what extent the movements might be weakening Russia’s positions in Ukrainian territory.
