Russia launches a heavy missile attack on Kyiv and Kharkiv cities of Ukraine

Early Monday, Russia launched a heavy missile attack on Kyiv and Kharkiv, cities of Ukraine, resulting in injuries, fires, and damage to homes and infrastructure from falling debris, according to officials.

Ukraine’s air defense successfully intercepted over 10 cruise missiles and nearly 10 ballistic missiles, the city’s military administration reported via Telegram.

Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine for nearly two hours before the air force announced that the skies were clear at 0330 GMT. During the attack, NATO member Poland activated both Polish and allied aircraft to secure its airspace.

In Kyiv, a boiler house at a water plant sustained partial damage, and the entrance to a metro station in the Svyatoshynskyi district, which also serves as a bomb shelter, was affected, though the station remains operational, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. The Svyatoshynskyi district is known for its cluster of universities and schools.

The attack injured at least two people, and cars and a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district were set ablaze, Klitschko added. Emergency services were also deployed to the Svyatoshynskyi, Holosiivskyi, and Solomyanskyi districts, where missile debris fell.

Solomyanskyi houses a major train station and Kyiv’s main airport, while Svyatoshynskyi is located on the city’s western edge, and Holosiivskyi lies to the southwest. Witnesses in Kyiv reported hearing loud explosions, likely from air defense units, some of which occurred in central areas.

This attack came exactly one week after Moscow launched over 200 missiles and drones across Ukraine, killing seven people and targeting energy facilities in what Kyiv described as the war’s “most massive” attack to date.

Russia has denied targeting civilians in the 30-month conflict that began with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

In another development, Russian missiles struck Kharkiv, Ukraine’s northeastern city, on Sunday, injuring at least 47 people, including five children.

The missiles hit a shopping mall and events complex, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to renew his call for allies to provide Ukraine with the ability to strike deeper into Russian territory to counter the military threat.

Earlier that day, Russia claimed that Kyiv had launched one of its most significant drone attacks against Russian infrastructure since the war began, targeting power plants and an oil refinery. Meanwhile, Moscow’s forces continued to make gains toward a key town in eastern Ukraine.

The fighting comes at a crucial moment in the two-and-a-half-year conflict, with Russia advancing in eastern Ukraine while trying to repel Ukrainian forces that breached its western border in a surprise incursion on August 6.

Last week, Russia unleashed its heaviest airstrikes of the war, hitting targets including energy facilities across Ukraine. Moscow, which denies targeting civilians, claims that damaging Ukraine’s energy system is a legitimate military objective. Since the conflict began in February 2022, Russian drone and missile strikes have killed thousands of civilians.

In response, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on Russian energy, military, and transport infrastructure, leveraging its rapidly expanding domestic drone industry. Kyiv is also urging the United States and other allies to allow the use of more powerful Western-supplied weapons to inflict greater damage inside Russia and diminish Moscow’s capacity to attack Ukraine.

In response to the Kharkiv attack, Zelenskyy stated on Telegram, “All the necessary forces of the world must be brought in to stop this terror. This does not require extraordinary forces, but enough courage on the part of the leaders—courage to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself.”

In Kharkiv, rescue workers and volunteers assisted injured civilians, carrying them to ambulances outside the shopping complex. The area was littered with shattered glass and debris, and people sought refuge in a nearby metro station.

Earlier, Russian officials reported that air defense units had destroyed 158 drones launched by Ukraine overnight, with debris causing fires at the Moscow Oil Refinery and the Konakovo Power Station in the neighboring Tver region.