Around 15 missiles were fired at targets in the capital, according to the military
Ukrainian air defenses at work above Kiev. © AFP / Sergey Supinsky
Russia carried out a major missile strike on targets in the Ukrainian capital Kiev in the early hours of Tuesday, the city’s military administration has claimed.
Four Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers fired some 15 missiles from the area of the Caspian Sea, the head of the military administration Sergey Popko wrote on Telegram.
The projectiles used were reportedly Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles, he said.
The missile strike followed a Russian drone attack on Monday, in which “a record number” of UAVs were deployed in order to “detect and exhaust Kiev’s air defenses,” Popko said.
The commander claimed that all of the Russian missiles had been shot down, and there were no casualties or significant damage as a result of the strike.
Mayor of Kiev Vitaly Klitschko wrote on Telegram that debris from a missile may have fallen on a residential building in the southwest of the capital, but it didn’t cause any injuries or serious damage.
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The Russian Defense Ministry has yet to comment on the overnight strike. When reporting similar operations in the past, the ministry usually insists that its missiles struck their intended targets.
Moscow began a large-scale missile campaign in Ukraine in October last year after accusing Kiev of using “terrorist tactics” and targeting Russian infrastructure, including the strategic Crimean Bridge.
Since then, numerous large-scale missile strikes, involving various types of projectiles and kamikaze drones, have been carried out against Ukrainian military installations and energy facilities, leading to rolling blackouts and the depletion of the country’s air-defense capabilities.
There has reportedly been a lull in missile strikes since early March, but attacks across Ukraine resumed at the beginning of May. It’s already the fifth time that facilities in Kiev have been targeted this month, according to Popko.
