KYIV: Russian air attacks killed 12 people and injured many more in Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Tuesday, authorities said, in the sixth consecutive day of intense strikes on the Ukrainian capital. Russia, which began its full-scale attack of its smaller neighbour in 2022, has escalated its air attacks against Ukraine in recent months as its progress has slowed dramatically on the battlefield. In a new tactic since last week, Moscow has sent swarms of drones to plague Kyiv and nearby areas day and night, killing residents and damaging homes and warehouses. Many of the drones are new, fast-flying jet-powered models that are harder to intercept.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russian drones and ballistic missiles had targeted residential areas and railway infrastructure in the overnight attacks. He called on Ukraine's allies to increase economic pressure on Russia, and to renew discussions about using Russia's frozen assets to provide funding for Ukraine's war effort. "It is time to signal (to) the Kremlin that imitating diplomacy does not work anymore," Sybiha said in a post on X. He urged allies to provide Ukraine with more air defences, as it runs critically low on the US-made Patriot interceptors capable of stopping Russia's ballistic missiles.
Eight people were killed in Kyiv in overnight attacks, most of them railway workers, officials said. More explosions were heard on Tuesday morning, when a further three people were injured in a daytime drone attack that caused a fire at a high-rise apartment building, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
In Boryspil just outside Kyiv, four people were killed and a further 13 injured in an attack that hit a residential building and other sites, Governor Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram. One of the dead outside Kyiv was an Indian citizen. "There's the crater. My car was parked here, and the blast threw it over there," Yevhen Zavhorodniy, 44, told Reuters, pointing to a large crater in front of a building in Boryspil where residents were cleaning up. "But we're alive and well, thank God. My wife, my son and our dog," said Zavhorodniy, who moved his family recently from Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian strikes also targeted a border crossing with Nato-member Romania in the Black Sea region of Odesa. Thousands of families there were left without electricity, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Moscow has been pounding Ukrainian cities regularly during the war in largely overnight attacks. The new waves of daytime strikes have disrupted life in the capital. Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 2,800 jet-powered drones in August, air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said, after it increased their use fivefold in July compared with June. Ukraine's air force said it had been able to shoot down five ballistic missiles. Kyiv recently received a small batch of Patriot interceptors.
Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russia, targeting oil refineries and logistics infrastructure, including warehouses of online shopping companies. Russian regional governors said air attacks caused a fire in the port area of Ust-Luga, a major export outlet in the northwest, and damaged civilian facilities in the Samara region, home to a number of oil refineries. A civilian was also killed in an attack on Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, the acting governor said.
Estonia's defence forces said drones used in a Ukrainian strike against Russia had briefly entered Estonian airspace. Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said the incident - the latest of a series in recent months - showed how important it was to support Ukraine with air defence assets.
Russia's defence ministry said Moscow hit military and energy facilities in Kyiv and Odesa overnight, as well as regions surrounding these cities.
US-led peace talks stalled this year as Ukraine refused Russian demands to cede territory and as Washington has become increasingly preoccupied with the conflict with Iran. Zelensky said on Monday he had held a "detailed and constructive" call with US President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and that the sides were working to finalise dates for a visit to Ukraine. — Reuters
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