Russia launches ballistic missile strike on Kyiv amid ongoing tensions
Ukraine received no early warning from its partners about a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv in which five missiles hit civilian infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday in a post on X, reports BritPanorama.
Zelenskyy characterized the barrage on the capital as “particularly vile,” and emphasized that receiving intelligence from Ukraine’s partners on such ballistic missile attacks “helps save lives, and this is one of the most critical issues.”
“This is precisely what helps prevent people from being killed — when there is an early warning about ballistic missiles,” he wrote. He did not apportion blame for the lack of warning.
Russia’s war in Ukraine hasn’t seen major shifts on the ground since last year, but Ukraine is struggling to fend off Moscow’s intensified aerial attacks on cities that include speedy ballistic missiles and high-flying jet-powered drones.
Zelenskyy stated that Russia had attacked Ukraine with more than 100 weapons since Monday evening. Among the damage was a residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv that was destroyed, killing four people despite an all-night rescue operation.
Russia has increasingly used attacks on civilian infrastructure such as energy facilities to deny Ukrainians power, heat, and running water during the 4½-year war, hoping to erode public support for Ukraine’s response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Despite requests by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to refrain from attacking, Ukraine has launched strikes against Russian energy sites like oil refineries, sometimes deep within Russian territory.
Trump has blamed Zelenskyy for record U.S. diesel prices — rather than the U.S.-led war in Iran — and struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to import diesel from Russia in an attempt to bring fuel prices down ahead of U.S. midterm elections.
Meanwhile, Trump claimed on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed on an “energy ceasefire,” in which both parties would refrain from striking each other’s energy infrastructure. Russia has not confirmed the existence of such a deal, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday stating that “contacts on this matter continue.”
Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine had not struck Russian oil refineries or other energy sites in the two days since Trump announced the purported deal, criticizing Moscow for ongoing attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and critical infrastructure following Trump’s announcement.
“These are absolutely clear signals that they have no intention of refraining from strikes on Ukraine,” Zelenskyy remarked.
The claim regarding Ukraine halting its strikes on energy sites could not be independently verified, but neither Russian officials nor media have reported Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries since the purported energy truce was announced.
Russian strikes across Ukraine resulted in injuries and fatalities overnight Monday into Tuesday, with Zelenskyy reporting four deaths in the apartment building in Kharkiv and 41 injuries in that city alone in one evening.
A woman sustained injuries in a Russian strike on a private home in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, while a Russian drone hit a residential building in the village of Murovane, near Lviv, during a morning attack Tuesday, as reported by Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi.
One person was killed in the Fastiv district of the Kyiv region, with at least two others wounded in a Russian attack on the area, stated Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration.
A Russian drone strike on an educational institution in the centre of Rivne in northwest Ukraine resulted in 14 injuries, according to Oleksandr Koval, head of the Rivne regional military administration.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces had launched coordinated strikes overnight using precision weapons and drones against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, logistics centers, and port infrastructure.
The ministry also stated a bulk carrier heading to the port of Mykolaiv with military cargo on board was hit in the estuary of the Dnipro and Bug rivers along the Black Sea.
Additionally, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses had shot down 604 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov overnight.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin indicated that 417 drones targeted the Moscow region, with most intercepted far away, while 65 were shot down as they approached the Russian capital.
A school, two private houses, and a car were damaged in an attack in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow, reported Governor Vladislav Shapsha.
