Thursday morning’s attacks were aimed at the capital Kyiv, the large city Kharkiv in the northeast and Lviv near the border with Poland.
Most of Lviv, rarely hit by Russian rockets, was without electricity after the attacks, according to Mayor Andriyj Sadovyj.
Rockets also fell in the western region of Ivano-Frankivsk, at the foot of the Karapatene mountain range, almost a thousand kilometers from Russia.
– The enemy continues its missile terror against the peaceful inhabitants of Ukraine, says Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.
Run to the bomb bay
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia sent drones with explosives to selected counties on Thursday night, before rocket attacks began in the morning hours.
Ukrainians seek refuge at a subway station in the capital Kiev during Thursday’s Russian missile attacks. Photo: Efrem Lukatsky / AP / NTB
Russia has launched 69 cruise missiles from both the air and sea, and 54 of them have been shot down, Zaluzhny says.
Presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podoljak said earlier in the day that more than 120 rockets had been fired.
Air defense systems were activated in Kiev, as residents ran into bomb shelters, and several explosions were heard in the capital.
Helpless
At least three people were injured and taken to hospital, including a 14-year-old girl, according to mayor Vitalij Klitschko. Nearly half of households in Kiev are without electricity, according to Klitschko, who is asking people to conserve water and recharge their electronic devices.
The attacks take place ten months after the Russian invasion of the neighboring country. Since October, Russia has carried out weekly attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure.
The attacks hit Ukraine’s electricity grid hard. This has resulted in millions of Ukrainians having to endure cold and darkness in the middle of winter.
Thursday’s spate of attacks is described as the largest in weeks. In Kiev, fragments from a downed rocket allegedly damaged at least one building and one car.
