KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russia fired cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones into six regions across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, killing at least five civilians and injuring about 40 others, including one pregnant woman. The authorities announced that.
The attacks hit at least three major cities, including the capital Kiev, where the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell was discussing military and financial aid to Ukraine. He said the day started in an air raid shelter, which he said was part of Ukraine’s “everyday reality” after almost two years of war.
Ukraine, suffering from ammunition and manpower shortages, is in dire need of Western support. Some long-term foreign funding is also in question after the latest effort to pass a deal on aid to Ukraine in the U.S. Senate collapsed on Tuesday.
Top Shot – This photo taken in Kiev on February 7, 2024 shows a building damaged and on fire as a result of a missile attack during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei Supinski/AFP) (Photo by Sergei Supinski/AFP via Getty Images)
The roughly 1,500-kilometre (1,500-kilometre) front has seen little movement in recent months, but Kremlin forces have the advantage in stockpiling missile and artillery ammunition used for long-range attacks. Russia has repeatedly used missiles to blow up civilian targets during the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said last month that air defense and electronic warfare systems capable of interdicting drones were Kiev’s top priority.
Ukraine’s military said it intercepted 44 of the 64 drones and missiles launched in the morning attack.
Top Shot – Local residents react outside a building damaged as a result of a missile attack in Kiev on February 7, 2024, during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei Supinski/AFP) (Photo by Sergei Supinski/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it used long-range precision weapons and drones to target Ukrainian factories that manufacture maritime drones, coastal defense missile systems, rockets and explosives. He claimed to have hit all targets.
According to the State Emergency Service, four people were killed in Kiev as a result of the barrage. This was the first shelling of Kiev in two weeks.
The attack also killed a man and damaged about 20 residential buildings and public infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaly Kim said.
Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said 35 people were injured in Kiev, including a pregnant woman.
KYIV, UKRAINE – February 7, 2024 – A fire caused by falling debris from a Russian missile broke out in an apartment complex in the Khorosiussky district after a Russian missile attack in Kiev on Wednesday morning. (Photo credit goes to Serhii Loparev / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Klitschko said apartment buildings were struck by fire in several districts of Kiev. Two power lines were damaged during the attack, leaving about 20,000 households on Kyiv’s east coast without power.
This is the first major power outage in the Tokyo metropolitan area this winter due to Russian airstrikes. Last winter, Moscow’s military targeted Kiev’s electricity infrastructure, apparently denying residents heat, light and running water.
KYIV, UKRAINE – FEBRUARY 7: A medical worker carries an injured person as a result of a Russian missile attack on February 7, 2024 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo by Danylo Antoniuk/Anadolu, Getty Images)
A 52-year-old woman was slightly injured in an S-300 missile attack in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, regional governor Ole Sinyevov announced.
Officials said the missile also reached the Lviv region in western Ukraine, where the fire broke out.
