Russia launches new winter missile barrage at Kyiv
Russia bombarded Ukraine on Friday, firing cruise missiles at Kyiv for the first time in months and targeting infrastructure facilities.
A total of seven Russian jets fired 19 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles at Ukraine from the Saratov region of southwestern Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force reported Friday. Fourteen of the missiles were shot down but some struck targets.
“Some of the enemy missiles were aimed at infrastructure facilities in the Dnipro region” while others were aimed toward Kyiv, the air force said.
In the Kyiv region all Russian missiles were shot down, Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration, said in a statement.
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“After a long pause of 79 days, the enemy began to use strategic aviation again for attacks on peaceful cities,” Popko said. However, falling debris damaged several houses and a gas pipe, the Kyiv region’s police reported.
In November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia will increase missile strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during winter. Ukraine’s military intelligence has also said Kremlin forces have prepared more than 800 missiles of different types to attack Ukraine in winter.
In Pavlohrad, a city in the Dnipro region of eastern Ukraine, an industrial enterprise, more than a dozen private houses and a church were damaged by a missile strike.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said in an initial statement that one person had been killed. He later confirmed eight people had been injured in Pavlohrad, all men whose ages range from 32 to 66 years old.
“Two of them will recover at home. The rest are in the hospital. Two of the wounded are still in serious condition. Psychological help was provided to 13 residents,” he said.
Energy infrastructure damage was also reported in Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
More than 400 Ukrainian towns are currently without electricity or heating because of Russian strikes, Ukrenergo reported on Friday morning.