WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia pounds Ukraine with missiles, drones for second day in row, Kyiv says

Russia launched several waves of missile and drone attacks overnight targeting Kyiv and other regions, Ukraine's military said early on Tuesday, a day after Moscow's biggest such attack of the war.

At least one person was killed when a civilian object was "wiped out" in the central Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said.

Kyiv region's air defence systems were deployed several times overnight to repel missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, the region's military administration said on Telegram.

Reuters' witnesses reported at least three rounds of explosions overnight in Kyiv.

On Monday, Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones, killing at least seven and damaging energy infrastructure in an attack condemned by U.S. President Joe Biden as "outrageous."

The size of the Tuesday attacks was not immediately known, but Ukraine's air force said it recorded the launch of several groups of drones and the take-off from Russian airfields of strategic Tu-85 strategic bombers and MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The Kremlin denies targeting civilians in the war that President Vladimir Putin launched against Russia's smaller neighbour with a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Russian defence ministry said that its strikes on Monday hit "all designated targets" in Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure.

Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv and central and eastern regions of Ukraine were under air raid alerts for most of the night, starting at around 2000 GMT on Monday.

Five civilians may be still under the rubble and four were injured as a result of the Russian attack, Oleksandr Vilkul, head of Kryvyi Rih's military administration, said on Telegram.

"The news is bad," Vilkul said.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

What we know about massive attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure

The Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike on the critical facilities of Ukraine's energy infrastructure that ensure the operation of the country’s defense industry, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the ministry, all designated targets were hit.

TASS has put together the key facts we currently know.

Targets of the strike

- The Russian Armed Forces on Monday morning fired high-precision, long-range, air-launched and sea-launched weapons, used tactical aircraft and launched attack drones to carry out a massive strike on the critical facilities of Ukraine's energy infrastructure that ensure the operation of the country’s defense industry.

- The targets were electric substations in the Kiev, Vinnitsa, Zhitomir, Khmelnitsky, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Nikolayev, Kirovograd and Odessa regions.

- The strikes also hit storage sites of Ukraine’s West-provided air-launched weapons at airfields in the Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk regions.

- Also struck were gas compressor stations in the Ivano-Frankovsk, Lvov and Kharkov regions.

Consequences

- According to the Russian Defense Ministry, all designated targets were hit.

- There are disruptions in energy supply across Ukraine.

- Deliveries of weapons and ammunition to the engagement line by rail were disrupted.

- The Ukrainian energy company DTEK announced emergency power cuts across Ukraine.

- The Ukrainian national railway company said on Telegram it was shifting to diesel locomotives due to power outages.

Reuters/Tass