Vladimir Putin unleashed a seven-hour missile and drone bombardment on Kyiv overnight, forcing residents to take shelter in underground metro stations. The attack comes amid failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the three-year-old war, with a senior Russian military figure insisting Putin's aim is to unite Russia, Ukraine and Belarus into a single state.
Debris from intercepted missiles and drones fell in at least four city districts of the Ukrainian capital early on Saturday, according to Tymur Tkachenko, acting head of Kyiv military administration. Russia also attacked military facilities in Dnipro and Poltava regions, deploying more Iskander-M missiles and their North Korean equivalents than ever before.
Ukraine reported strikes by 14 Russian Iskander-M and KN-23 ballistic missiles, along with 250 drones, some of which were decoys. Half the drones were intercepted, as were six missiles, according to Ukrainian armed forces. At least ten people were wounded in the Kyiv region.
In Kharkiv region, four Ukrainians were killed and seven injured in Russian attacks. The dead included a 78-year-old woman, two men aged 60, and a 33-year-old woman. Port facilities in Odesa were also destroyed in a ballistic missile attack.
The onslaught was seen as revenge for more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones fired at Russia in recent days, which disrupted airports in Moscow and other cities. Ukraine successfully hit the NAK AZOT chemical plant in Novomoskovsk and the Energia plant in Yelets, which produces components for Russian missiles and drones.
Russian MP and war hawk Lt-Gen Viktor Sobolev insisted Putin's military aim is to create a united state of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, saying: 'We are all Russian.' His comments are seen as offensive by Ukraine, which views them as historically incorrect.
