The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched bombers and drones that were flying towards Ukraine. According to Ukrainian sources, several more people were killed in Russian attacks.
The Tu-95ms bombers took off from the Engels air base in southwest Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force said in the online service Telegram. Attack drones are also on their way to Ukraine.
According to local authorities, air raid sirens have been sounded in large parts of Ukraine. In the city of Kryvyi Rih in the center of the country, two people were killed on the night of Tuesday, local officials said. In addition, two people are “probably missing under the rubble,” regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on the Telegram online service. According to official reports, two people were also killed in Zaporizhia in the southeast.
Widespread power outage
On Monday, at least four people were killed and the energy infrastructure was severely damaged in one of the heaviest Russian air strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of “one of the largest Russian attacks”. According to him, Russia fired at least 127 missiles and 109 drones. The attack led to widespread power outages.
Biden condemns attacks
US President Joe Biden condemned Monday’s Russian attacks as “outrageous”. “I condemn in the strongest possible terms Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and its efforts to plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness,” Biden said. Russia will never succeed in Ukraine.
Moscow is “pouring Ukraine’s lifelines” with attacks and trying to “destroy supplies,” the German Foreign Ministry said in the online service X. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the Russian attacks as “cowardly.”
Selenskyj asks for help
Meanwhile, Zelenskyj called on Western allies to help Ukraine shoot down Russian drones and other missiles. “In the various regions of Ukraine, we could do much more to protect lives if the air force of our European neighbors would work together with our F-16s and our air defense,” argued the Ukrainian president.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said the attacks showed that Kiev needed permission to attack “with Western weapons deep inside Russian territory.” The Ukrainian advance into the Russian border region of Kursk, which began on August 6, was “among other things, a means of compensating for the lack of range,” Zelenskyy said.
“Targets hit”
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that it had “hit all the intended targets” in massive missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. The ministry confirmed attacks on energy infrastructure facilities and stated that these facilities were being used to support the “military production complex.”
Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Moscow’s air force carries out deadly attacks on its neighboring country almost every day. Most recently, Russia has increasingly targeted energy facilities. Zelensky has long been urging allies to quickly deliver new air defense systems.