The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Tuesday evening that the attack killed five civilians and injured 127. The Kremlin's forces targeted Kyiv, the capital, and the northeastern Kharkiv region.
ADVERTISEMENTUkraine's two largest cities came under heavy Russian missile attacks on Tuesday, killing five civilians and injuring more than 100.
The Kremlin's forces targeted Kyiv, the capital, and the northeastern Kharkiv region whose provincial capital is also called Kharkiv, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said.
Air defenses shot down all 10 of the hypersonic missiles, out of about 100 of various types that were launched, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi claimed. It was the most Kinzhals used by Russia in one attack since the start of the war, air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said.
The barrage of the cities continued Russia's escalated attacks on Ukraine in recent days that began on Friday with its largest single attack on Ukraine since the war started, in which at least 41 civilians were killed.
The following day, shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod that Russian officials blamed on Ukraine killed more than two dozen people. Russia has struck back repeatedly since.
Tit for tat
The Belgorod attack was one of the deadliest on Russian soil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started more than 22 months ago. Russian officials said the death toll reached 26, including five children, after a new salvo of rockets Tuesday.
Cities across western Russia regularly have come under drone attacks since May, although Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for strikes on Russian territory or the Crimean Peninsula.
"They want to intimidate us and create uncertainty within our country. We will intensify strikes. Not a single crime against our civilian population will go unpunished," Putin said Monday, describing the barrage of Belgorod as a "terrorist act."
Putin accused Western nations of using Ukraine to try to "put Russia in its place." While vowing retribution, he insisted Russia would only target military infrastructure in Ukraine.
However, Ukraine reports civilian casualties from daily Russian attacks, which have hit apartment buildings, shopping centres and residential areas in small communities.