“A search and rescue operation is underway in Dnipro at the site of a four-story apartment building. Part of the building was effectively demolished,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday, adding that Russia fired more than 650 drones and 70 ballistic, cruise and anti-ship missiles at Ukrainian communities overnight.
“A large-scale attack and a completely transparent statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these strikes will continue,” he said.
“Assistance from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary,” he added.
At least five people were killed and 65 injured, including three children, across the capital of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as multiple multi-story residential buildings in the capital either caught fire or were damaged in attacks.
Thousands of residents flooded into the Kyiv subway system seeking shelter early Tuesday, witnesses said, some carrying belongings and mattresses, as the sound of defense systems repelling Russian attacks filled the air.
Air raid warnings sounded over much of the country early Tuesday after Zelenskyy reiterated warnings the previous day that a major assault.
Ukraine has warned for weeks about dwindling supplies of air defense missiles to protect its cities, worried they were being used up in the war in the Middle East.
With U.S. diplomacy stalled amid that shift in focus, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power supply and infrastructure while Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil facilities.
Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged the attack on Tuesday, saying it was targeting military infrastructure in response to “the terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime.” Moscow maintains it doesn’t target civilians despite years of attacks that have leveled entire Ukrainian towns and left thousands of civilians dead or injured.
Russia warned last week that it intended “systematic strikes” on targets in Kyiv linked to the Ukrainian military as well as decision-making centers, and urged foreigners to leave.
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On the ground with Ukraine’s war recruiters
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It said the action was in response to a drone strike last month on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held region of Luhansk, which killed 21. Russia has called it a terrorist attack against children, though Ukraine denied targeting civilians.
At a meeting with officials dedicated to that attack on Monday, Putin appeared to issue another warning. He said that Kyiv had given the war a “new dimension” by striking the dormitory. “That is their choice,” he added.
The Ukraine war has ground on since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Efforts to end it have made little progress, with President Donald Trump focused on the Middle East.
