Russia continues to step up assault on Ukraine with massive missile barrage

Russia has maintained its recent intensification of air attacks on Ukraine with a huge assault overnight.

Hundreds of missiles and drones struck the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. The intensified attack on the country’s two largest cities came just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to exact “revenge” for a deadly assault on the Russian city of Belgorod.

However, the strikes follow a trend that has seen Russia escalate its air attacks on Ukraine in recent days. With the front line largely bogged down in trench warfare, Moscow has returned to its tactic from last winter, during which it targeted infrastructure, especially energy and heating, leaving millions of Ukrainians struggling to stay warm.

That has seen a hike in civilian casualties amid numerous strikes on urban areas. The attacks on Kyiv on Tuesday came during peak hour, noted Al Jazeera reporter Assed Baig from the Ukrainian capital.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that four people had been killed and at least 92 injured, noting that Russia had launched about 170 Shahed attack drones and dozens of different missiles at Ukraine since the last day of 2023.

“For the third day already, our air defenders are doing incredible work,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram messenger.

“This is one of the most extensive strikes on the capital,” Baig said. “We understand there are parts of the city without electricity and mobile connection.”

Sirens rang through the city as rescue services rushed to areas hit by debris from missiles downed by Ukraine’s air defence systems.

Earlier, Ukraine’s air force said it had intercepted 35 drones that Russia launched after midnight, targeting several cities. Four strikes on Kharkiv killed at least one person and injured 41, according to Oleg Sinegubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region.

‘Terrorist attack’

The latest escalation in the war began at 11pm on Thursday, when Russia launched a major drone and missile raid across Ukraine, killing at least 31 and injuring about 160 people. The Ukrainian Armed Forces said it had never seen so many locations attacked simultaneously.

On Saturday, Ukraine hit back on Russian soil, shelling the border city of Belgorod. Russia reported that more than two dozen people had been killed, including five children. Ukraine’s officials have not accepted responsibility for a series of strikes on Russian territory.

Describing the assault on Belgorod as a “terrorist attack”, Putin vowed to mete out punishment during a visit to a military hospital on Monday. By this point, Russia had already rung in the new year by launching a record number of 90 Shahed-style drones on Ukraine.

Most of the drones were downed by Ukrainian forces, but at least five were reportedly killed and eight injured in the Black Sea port city of Odesa.

In his New Year speech on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is struggling to secure increased support from the US and EU, vowed to raise Ukraine’s production of weapons. The country will build at least a million drones, he said, promising Russia will the “wrath” of domestic production.

The increased intensity of the war could yet help Ukraine’s drive to convince its partners of the dangers posed by Russia and the need to send more funding and weapons.

Amid Tuesday’s barrage, Poland, which last week reported that a Russian missile had briefly passed through its airspace, said that it had mobilised two pairs of F-16 fighter jets and an air tanker.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is monitoring the situation and communicating with Polish officials.

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