Russia has claimed that it carried out a “massive strike” against Kyiv and several other parts of Ukraine using missiles and drones in a new escalation of the war.
The Russian Defence Ministry said it targeted military-industrial facilities and other infrastructure in various Ukrainian territories.
The strikes happened overnight and into Wednesday, October 7, with explosions reported in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said some parts of the capital were affected, and emergency teams were sent to areas where buildings and other infrastructure were damaged.
Two people were killed in Kyiv during this week’s latest wave of attacks, Reuters reported. The strikes also hit buildings and warehouses in the capital of Kyiv, and there were also attacks in other Ukrainian cities according to Reuters.
Russia said its forces used high-precision weapons launched from land, sea and air and drones. Moscow said the facilities of Ukrainian defence production were among those targets.
Russia’s Defence Ministry named sites that were associated with Fire Point, a Ukrainian defense company that makes cruise missiles and drones.
The Russian statement also claimed that strikes took place in Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Kharkiv. Odesa was also targeted, with Moscow saying port and ship-repair infrastructure and vessels believed to be used in support of Ukraine’s armed forces were targeted.
The Ukrainian authorities have reported damage in a number of different places in Ukraine after the overnight attack. In Dnipro, a factory was destroyed and an industrial facility was damaged. Strikes were also reported in Zaporizhzhia and the Poltava region. Kremenchuk was hit as well, with local officials reporting damage to residential buildings.
Pryluky in the Chernihiv region was also hit. Ukrainian officials reported damage to a residential building and other facilities, with casualties reported as emergency crews worked at the affected sites.
The latest attacks follow warnings by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Russia is preparing another major attack on Ukraine.
Zelenskiy had said on October 6 that Ukrainian forces were prepared to respond, and stressed a need for continued support from allies, particularly for air defence.
The latest barrage highlights the continuing intensity of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with both sides increasingly targeting infrastructure and military-related facilities. Russia has also recently announced strikes in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities as retaliation.
As emergency services assess the damage in affected areas, the full scope of the latest attack and its effect is still under investigation. The strikes are just the latest in the ongoing conflict, and Kyiv and a number of other Ukrainian districts are now under attack from missile and drone strikes again.
