Russia launches massive air attack on several Ukraine cities as UN meets

Air alerts sounded again in Kyiv and residents headed to shelters early Thursday morning, as a massive Russian attack on at least six cities across Ukraine killed at least two people and started fires, wounding at least 21 and trapping possibly dozens of people under rubble.

The early morning missile attack was Russia’s largest since August 15, and came a day after reports of sabotage at a Russian military airfield in Chkalovsk near Moscow.

It also coincided with the United Nations General Assembly summit in New York, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech and presented a Ukrainian “peace formula”, and came on the International Day of Peace.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the decision was not related to a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports, nor would it affect weapons transfers through Poland.

In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, near the front lines, two people were killed Thursday and at least five injured after a strike hit a residential building, said regional Governor Oleksand Prokudin.

Seven people were injured in Kyiv, including a nine-year-old girl, reported Mayor Vitalii Klitschko, and some residential and commercial buildings were damaged.

“According to initial reports, cruise missiles of the X-101/555/55 type were launched from about 10 Tu-95MS strategic aircraft,” Sergiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram.

“More than 20 enemy targets were destroyed by air defence forces and means.

“As a result of the downing of the missiles, debris fell in several areas of the capital.”

At least six strikes hit the Slobidskyi district of Kharkiv, damaging civilian infrastructure, said regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov. The city’s mayor added that two people had been sent to hospitals.

At least 10 people were injured and at least one person was rescued from under rubble in Cherkasy, in central Ukraine, according to Ihor Klymenko, minister of internal affairs of Ukraine.

Up to 23 people may still be buried under rubble in Cherkasy after the morning strike, said Cherkasy regional Governor Ihor Taburets. Rescue services were working to clear the debris.

An industrial zone was hit in the western region of Lviv, damaging buildings and starting a fire, but no information on casualties was immediately available, Klymenko added.

Regional Governor Vitalii Koval reported strikes in the city of Rivne in the northwest region of the same name, without immediately providing details.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said 22 drones were taken down overnight by air defence systems, 19 above Russian-annexed Crimea and three others in the Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions near Ukraine. The defence ministry did not say whether there were any casualties.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg