Russia launched new drone and missile attacks on Ukraine early Tuesday, killing at least five people, officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Online submission Russia used “more than 90 aerial targets against civilians and infrastructure,” including 81 drones and cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and air-launched ballistic missiles.
President Zelenskyy shared a video of the country's emergency services pulling people from the rubble and taking them to hospital.
“We will definitely confront Russia against this and any aggression,” Zelenskiy said. “Crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished.”
Heavy attacks on energy facilities in the Kyiv region on Monday knocked out power and triggered five air alerts overnight, the Associated Press reported. Ukraine said its air defenses had destroyed all the drones and missiles, but fallen debris had sparked forest fires.
In a speech on Monday, President Zelenskiy said Russia had sent more than 100 missiles and around 100 drones, calling it one of the “most violent attacks.”
He also noted that several people had been killed and there had been “enormous” damage to the country's energy sector.
President Biden condemned the latest attack by Russia in a post on the social media platform X. He vowed the US would “continue to lead the coalition of nations supporting Ukraine” and said it would send energy equipment to help repair Ukraine's systems.
“Let me be clear: Russia will never succeed, and the spirit of the Ukrainian people will never be broken.” Biden wrote.
According to the Associated Press, the Russian Defense Ministry said the attack used “long-range precision air and naval weapons and attack drones” and targeted Ukraine's “critical energy infrastructure” that supports Russian forces.
Since Ukrainian forces advanced into Kremlin territory in early August, four Ukrainian missiles have been shot down in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine is on the offensive and seeking to lift a policy banning it from using U.S.-made weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory.
The Associated Press contributed.
