WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russian attacks on Ukraine kill six in second day of major strikes, Kyiv says
Russia launched missile and drone attacks targeting scores of Ukrainian regions and killing at least six people, officials said on Tuesday, a day after Moscow's biggest air attack of the war on its neighbour.
Three people were killed when a hotel was "wiped out" by a missile in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said. Five people were injured and one person was still missing after the strike, Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region that includes Kryvyi Rih, said on Telegram.
Separately, three people were killed in drone attacks on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.
Three people were also injured in the Zaporizhzhia region and four were hurt in a missile strike on the northeastern region of Kharkiv overnight, local authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Ukraine would retaliate against Russia for its attacks. He asked allies to consider joint air defence operations and provide long-range capabilities after Russia pummelled Ukrainian energy infrastructure with more than 200 missiles and drones on Monday.
During Tuesday's attack, Ukraine downed five out of 10 incoming missiles and 60 out of 81 drones, the air force said.
The Ukrainian air force lost track of 10 more drones that have likely come down somewhere on its territory, it said. One more crossed into Belarusian territory.
The Russian defence ministry said its forces had carried out a high-precision weapon strike on Ukraine overnight, the Interfax news agency reported. Moscow denies targeting civilians since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, although thousands have been killed.
Several Russian military bloggers said Moscow's attacks were an "act of retaliation" for Ukraine's surprise incursion into Russia's western Kursk region - the first such action since World War Two.
In the capital Kyiv, the military administration said air defences had shot down all incoming targets aimed at the city. There were no casualties and two small fires caused by debris were put out by the emergency services, local authorities said.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russia targets ‘critical airfields’ in Ukraine – MOD
Russia has carried out precision strikes against air bases in four regions of Ukraine, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Tuesday. Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were among the weapons used, Moscow confirmed.
Air raid alerts sounded across Ukraine overnight Monday into Tuesday, and the media in Kiev reported explosions in Khmelnytsky, Sumy, Krivoy Rog, and Rovno Regions.
The attack targeted “critical airfield infrastructure facilities in Ukraine,” using “long-range air-launched precision weapons, including Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, and attack UAVs,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“All designated targets were hit,” the military added, without elaborating.
Tuesday’s strike followed the “massive high-precision attack” on Ukrainian infrastructure supporting Kiev’s military industry, carried out overnight Sunday into Monday. Attack drones, ballistic and cruise missiles shut off electricity to much of Ukraine and targeted air bases in Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk Regions that were storing Western-supplied weapons and aircraft, Moscow said.
According to Ukrainian media, the strike was the biggest since the conflict began, involving over 230 missiles and drones hitting targets in 15 regions.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky claimed on Tuesday that Kiev’s armed forces had used F-16 fighter jets to shoot down incoming missiles during the large infrastructure strike overnight on Sunday.
“As part of this huge attack, we shot down some missiles and drones with the help of F-16s,” Zelensky told reporters, describing this as “a very good result.”
While thanking the US and its allies for sending Kiev the jets, Zelensky noted that “this is not enough, we don’t have many of them, and we still need to train pilots.”
Several NATO countries have promised up to 80 of the US-made fighters, but only about ten have been delivered so far, according to Ukrainian media. A handful of airfields in Ukraine can accommodate F-16s and Russia has been striking them repeatedly over the past month.
The Kremlin has said that the jets won’t make a difference on the battlefield and will be destroyed just like the other Western hardware provided to Ukraine since the start of the conflict.
Reuters/RT