Russia targeted Ukraine’s capital city in a massive, coordinated airstrike campaign late Monday night into Tuesday morning. Twelve people were reportedly killed and over a dozen more injured as Russia launched over 200 drones, and a lethal combination of “anti-radar, ballistic, and cruise missiles” on Kyiv.
The assault began around 6 p.m. local time and targeted Ukraine’s Kyiv and Odesa regions. The airstrikes marked the latest in a string of escalating attacks by Russia on Ukraine over the last two weeks. Monday’s attack was the sixth straight day that Russia bombarded Kyiv. The attacks reportedly targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure in and around Kyiv, continuing Russia’s trend of attacks on non-military targets.
Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that intelligence assessments showed that Russia planned to increase its attacks on Ukraine, both in frequency and magnitude. Zelensky lamented this reality, explaining that Russian President Vladimir Putin was insistent on “more war” while claiming that Russian society has grown weary of the conflict.
“For now, unfortunately, all the intel- both ours and our partners’ — and all the signals from Russia indicate that the Russian leader personally wants more war,” Zelensky said in a video posted to his X account. “Even now when the absolute majority of his own society would agree to stop the war along the line of contact.”
Zelensky also discussed the ramifications of Russia’s airstrikes on Ukraine on Monday. He criticized Russia for targeting civilians while expressing condolences to the victims and the families of those killed in the attacks.
“In many cities and communities, work to address the aftermath of the Russian attack has been ongoing since last night – nearly 350 first responders are involved in Kyiv and the region alone,” said Zelensky. “A significant number of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles were used in the attack. Unfortunately, residential buildings and civilian infrastructure have been damaged.”
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“In Kyiv, a strike on a railway depot killed 7 people,” said Zelensky. “The Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Dnipro regions also came under attack. Overall, 12 people were killed, among them an Indian citizen, and dozens more were injured in the attack. My condolences to everyone who has lost family and loved ones.”
He also asked for help from Ukraine’s allies, specifically an increase in the number of “deliveries” of anti-missile weapons. While expressing gratitude for assistance from his country’s allies, Zelensky reinforced that there is a correlation between the number of weapons Ukraine receives and the number of victims killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine.
“Russia always plans its strikes specifically to cause as much destruction to people’s lives as possible, and it succeeds only when air defense capabilities are insufficient,” said Zelensky. “I am grateful to everyone helping Ukraine receive anti-ballistic capabilities through PURL and bilateral supplies, and it is very important that these deliveries increase this fall. The number of victims of Russian terror directly hinges on every new package of assistance.”