© picture alliance / Anadolu | Danylo Antoniuk
During the night of Monday to Tuesday, Russia carried out a heavy attack on Ukraine. In the process, the Russians deployed 73 missiles and 656 drones. The death toll is heavy: at least 18 deaths have already been counted.
Ukraine did manage to intercept most of the missiles and drones, but could not prevent human casualties: 6 people lost their lives in Kiev, 66 others were wounded, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klichko reported on Telegram. In Dnipro, 12 people were killed; in Kharkiv, 14 were wounded.
Russia says it attacked only military targets, calling the action a retaliation for "terrorist" Ukrainian attacks. Moscow was referring to a drone attack on a student apartment in Luhansk in May that killed 21 young people. Kiev stated afterward that the attack in question was not intentionally directed at civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned last week that Russia was preparing another massive attack.
"More than 500 National Emergency Service personnel have been deployed to deal with the consequences of last night's Russian attack on our cities and communities," he said. "The heaviest blow came in Kiev, where once again dozens of residential buildings and other purely civilian infrastructure were damaged," Zelensky wrote on social media on Tuesday morning.
The Ukrainian president continued: "Last night Russia fired a total of 656 attack drones and 73 missiles of various types at our population: ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles. A large-scale attack and an absolutely clear message from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile attacks, these attacks will continue."
Zelensky reiterated his call for urgent help from the U.S. in air defense: "Europe needs its own missile defense system to finally end this war. And help from the United States in providing missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary. We count on the support of our partners and effective responses to today's attack."
Picture: © picture alliance / Anadolu | Danylo Antoniuk