In the early hours of Sunday, a wave of air alerts swept across Ukraine, putting the country at risk of a new massive Russian strike, writes mezha.net.
Sirens were activated in the capital Kiev, as well as in a number of central and western regions, after the Air Force warned of the takeoff of Russian MiG-31K fighters capable of carrying supersonic "Dagger" missiles, and the movement of cruise missiles towards the Zhytomyr region.
In a midnight address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged citizens not to ignore danger signals. According to intelligence, the Russian military has prepared a large-scale combined attack in response to heavy Ukrainian drone strikes on an oil refinery in Moscow and key energy facilities in Crimea over the past 24 hours.
While air defense systems repelled the nightly threats, local authorities began to summarize the tragic balance of yesterday's Russian attacks, which targeted civilian infrastructure in several areas. More than 50 people were killed or injured in less than 24 hours.
At least 9 cluster bombs rocked the city of Zaporozhye, killing five civilians and wounding ten others. Residential areas were destroyed.
In the Kholodnogorsk district of Kharkiv, a Russian air bomb collapsed a two-story apartment building. Rescue teams found the body of one deceased. Nine people, including children, were injured. A separate drone strike in the city blew up a civilian car, killing one man.
Three children were injured in the city of Poltava. In Sumy, a bombing raid killed one person on the outskirts and damaged more than 20 private homes.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported extremely intensive air defense work over the past 24 hours, managing to shoot down 92 of a total of 99 Russian suicide drones launched. Despite the high effectiveness of the defense, the use of heavy glide bombs by the Russian aviation remains the most serious challenge, as they are launched beyond the range of most front-line air defense systems.
As of this time, rescue operations in the affected areas are continuing, and military administrations are analyzing the extent of the damage from the missiles that passed in the early hours of Sunday.