Russian forces launched a massive air attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight Saturday. Moscow again used the new intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, according to the Ukrainian air force. The projectile targeted the city of Bila Tserkva, about 80 kilometers southwest of Kyiv, as FAZ reported citing Ukrainian media. Local authorities reported damage to garages and a business; the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation.
The attack began at 0:16 a.m. local time (11:16 p.m. CEST) and included a total of 90 missiles and 600 drones, according to the Ukrainian military. Air defenses intercepted 55 missiles and 549 drones, while 16 missiles and 51 drones hit their targets. In Kyiv itself, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported damage in all districts: two people died and 56 were injured. Photos show destroyed residential blocks, a large shopping center, and a market in flames.
Zelensky warned before the attack
On Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had already warned on Telegram of an impending Russian strike. He said Ukraine had received indications from American and European partners about an Oreshnik deployment and saw “signs” of a combined attack on Kyiv with various weapon types. Shortly afterward, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv closed its doors and warned of a “potentially significant air attack” within the next 24 hours.
This is the third use of the Oreshnik missile in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In the two previous attacks, Moscow said it had used practice munitions. The weapon is a supersonic intermediate-range missile that can be equipped with six cluster warheads – surveillance camera footage shows its typical approach over Kyiv.
Putin accuses Kyiv of “terror attack”
The new wave of attacks follows a speech by Vladimir Putin on Friday. He accused Kyiv of attacking a dormitory of a pedagogical university in Starobilsk with drones – a city in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. “At night, while the students were sleeping,” 16 drones struck the building, Putin told graduates of the “Time of Heroes” program, which prepares war veterans for administrative posts. He emphasized that there were no military targets nearby.
The Ukrainian armed forces contradicted this: they said they had destroyed a command post of the Russian elite drone unit “Rubicon” in Starobilsk on Friday night. This unit is responsible for attacks on Ukrainian targets. The mutual accusations are part of the ongoing information warfare in Russia’s war of aggression.
Source: www.faz.net
