On Tuesday morning, residents of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, woke up to extensive explosions resulting from a Russian missile attack. This was reported by Kyiv's military administration on the messaging service Telegram. The city's anti-aircraft defenses were actively countering the attack.
Journalists from the news agency AFP reported at least ten explosions. The missile attack followed a drone attack just a few hours earlier in the morning. Debris from the downed drones ignited a fire in the Desnjanskyj district, but there were no reports of injuries or fatalities.
According to Kyiv's mayor, Vitalij Klytjko, power outages occurred in several areas of the capital. The Ukrainian Air Force warned residents to stay indoors as many missiles were heading their way. The attack involved the hypersonic missile Kinzjal, which Russia considers one of its best missiles ever.
Additionally, the city of Kharkiv in the northeastern part of the country was also hit, as reported by Oleh Synjehubov, the leader of the city's military administration.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Monday evening of an "intensification" of the war. He stated, "We will intensify the attacks. No crime against humanity should go unpunished." This statement came two days after the Russian city of Belgorod was hit by a Ukrainian attack, resulting in 25 deaths.
The day before Ukraine's attack on Belgorod, Ukraine itself was the target of a large-scale attack. In Kyiv alone, 28 people were killed, marking the deadliest attack on the city since the war began in February 2022. As a result of the Russian attacks, which killed a total of 39 people on Friday, New Year's Day was a national day of mourning in Ukraine.
