Russia pounds Ukraine with 'massive' air attack
At least 11 civilians were killed as Russia targeted cities and infrastructure
What happened
Russia hit Ukraine with missiles and drones early Tuesday after striking more than half of the country's regions early Monday. The barrage killed at least four civilians on Tuesday and seven on Monday, and attacks on energy and water infrastructure caused outages in Kyiv and elsewhere. Ukrainians sought shelter overnight in basements and subway stations.
Who said what
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia fired 236 cruise and supersonic missiles and attack drones on Monday and Ukraine shot down or disabled 201 of them. Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk called it Russia's "most massive aerial attack" in 30 months of war. The previous one-day record was 158 missiles and drones in December, the BBC said.
The attack's "main target" was energy infrastructure, but Moscow also wanted to "strike at Ukraine's reserves of another key resource: morale," the BBC said. Ukrainians have been "electrified" by Kyiv's recent incursion deep into Russian territory, and the Kremlin wanted to show it can "still inflict misery on the Ukrainian population" at will.
What next?
Ukraine's defense minister and a close Zelenskyy adviser will present the Biden administration this week with a list of targets Kyiv wants to strike inside Russia with long-range U.S. weapons, Politico said. To sidestep Western restrictions, The Associated Press said, Ukrainian officials said they have developed a homegrown missile-drone hybrid, the Palianytsia, that can strike deep within Russia, without U.S. approval.
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