Kharkiv comes under ‘massive rocket attack,’ mayor says
Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine has come under a “massive rocket attack” on Tuesday, the city’s mayor warned, urging civilians to remain within air raid shelters.
“There are several arrivals [of missiles] in the center of Kharkiv, in residential areas. There is a fire there now, rescuers have gone to the scene. Information about the victims is currently being clarified,” Igor Terekhov said on Telegram.
“We have information that needs to be clarified about 41 [people] wounded. There is also information about the dead — their number is being clarified,” he said.
Firefighters tackling blazes and people taking shelter in Kharkiv after a massive Russian attack on areas across Ukraine, on Dec. 30, 2023.
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He noted that Russia had previously struck Kharkiv with its next-generation Kinzhal (or “dagger”) hypersonic ballistic missiles but it was not confirmed whether these missiles were used in the latest attack. Officials in Kyiv said Kinzhal missiles had been fired at the capital earlier. CNBC was not able to immediately verify the claims.
— Holly Ellyatt
Latest attack on Kyiv comes after Russia’s Putin vowed to avenge Belgorod
The latest missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, in the early hours of this morning come after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to intensify Russia’s attacks on Ukraine after a strike on the border city of Belgorod.
Speaking to Russian military personnel at a hospital on Monday, Putin said Russian forces would increase their attacks on military targets in Ukraine after an attack on the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday reportedly left 25 people dead and more than 100 injured.
Russian President Vladimir Putin leaves the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, on Dec. 25, 2023, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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Putin called the attack on Belgorod a terrorist act and a deliberate targeting of civilians. He said Russia was already retaliating, saying “strikes against Ukrainian military targets were carried out yesterday, today, and will be carried out tomorrow,” according to comments translated by NBC News.
“Do you understand the meaning of what they [Ukraine] are doing? They want to intimidate us and create some kind of uncertainty in our country. For our part, we will step up the strikes that I mentioned, of course. Not a single crime — and this is, of course, a crime against the civilian population — will go unpunished, 100% of that. There can be no doubt,” Putin said.
Adding that he was furious about the Belgorod attack, saying he was “boiling inside” following the strike, Putin insisted that Russia will not hit Ukraine’s civilian population in response.
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv was attacked early Tuesday morning, leaving at least 16 civilians injured.
— Holly Ellyatt
At least 16 wounded in Russian missile strike on Kyiv
At least 16 people were wounded in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv Tuesday morning, the city’s mayor said.
“So far, 16 people have been injured in a multi-story building in the Solomyan district, which caught fire as a result of a rocket attack. Doctors hospitalized 15 of them,” Klitschko said, warning that there were several fires caused by destroyed missile debris in several other city districts.
— Holly Ellyatt
Poland says F-16s protecting its airspace amid Russian strikes on Ukraine
RADOM, POLAND – AUGUST 26: F-16 performs during the Air Show in Radom, Poland on August 26, 2023. The biggest air show in Poland remains two days and are held for the first time after a five-year break. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Poland said on Tuesday that two pairs of F-16 fighter jets and an allied air tanker were put into action to protect Polish airspace amid Russian strikes on Ukraine.
— Reuters
Explosions and missile debris reported in Kyiv, officials say
Air raid warnings are ongoing in Kyiv Tuesday, with officials warning that explosions and Russian missile debris have been reported in several areas of Ukraine’s capital.
“Explosions in the capital. In particular, in the Holosiivskyi district, a fragment of a missile fell on the open space of the park. There are explosions in the Obolon district,” Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram early Tuesday.
Electricity supplies to some residential buildings in several districts of the capital have been cut off, he added.
Ukraine’s air force warned earlier of incoming Russian missiles targeting Kyiv, noting on Telegram Tuesday that “repeated launches” of Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal or “Dagger” hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles “are possible.”
The fragments of Russian missiles destroyed by Ukraine’s air defenses have landed in four districts across the capital, Kyiv’s city military administration said on Telegram.
A building materials warehouse destroyed by a Russian missile strike on Dec. 30, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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At least 29 people were killed in Russia’s most recent large-scale attack on Kyiv last Friday, the KCMA confirmed Monday.
“For three days in a row, rescuers are conducting a search and rescue operation after an air strike on Kyiv. Unfortunately, bodies of those killed by Russian missiles are still being found. As of today, at 10:30 p.m., 29 dead have been found,” the KCMA said on Telegram.
The administration said it was the “worst tragedy for the capital since the beginning of the full-scale invasion” in terms of the number of casualties.
Ukraine retaliated by attacking the Russian border city of Belgorod on Saturday, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 100.
— Holly Ellyatt
