4 minute readDecember 29, 202210:55 AM GMT-8Last Updated an hour ago
Russia fires barrage of missiles, Ukraine condemns ‘senseless barbarism’
and Pavel Polityuk
targeting Key, the northeastern
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Russia fires missiles at Ukraine’s major cities
- Summary
- Companies
- Cruise missiles fired at numerous cities – Ukraine Air Force
- Ukraine shoots down 54 out of 69 missiles
- Three people wounded in blasts in Kyiv – mayor
- Russia’s Lavrov says Ukrainian peace plan an “illusion”
KYIV, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Russia fired scores of missiles into Ukraine early on Thursday, targeting Kyiv and other cities including Lviv in the west and Odesa in the southwest, sending people rushing to shelters and knocking out power in one of Moscow’s largest aerial assaults.
“Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to mind seeing Russia launch another missile barrage at peaceful Ukrainian cities ahead of New Year,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
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Ukraine’s military said it had shot down 54 missiles out of 69 launched by Russia. Air raid sirens rang out across Ukraine – for five hours in Kyiv.
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“The downing of 54 missiles saved the lives of dozens of people & protected key parts of our economic infrastructure,” Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a tweet. “Every day of military success brings our victory closer.”
Officials had earlier said more than 120 missiles were fired during the assault.
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Reuters footage showed a team of emergency workers poring through the smouldering wreckage of residential houses in Kyiv destroyed by a blast and smoke trails of missiles in the sky.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, fire fighters worked to extinguish a large blaze at an electricity station. In the southern central city of Zaporizhzhia, houses were damaged and a missile left a huge crater.
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“I woke up to everything shaking, crumbling. I got up and screamed, ‘Vitia, Vitia (my husband), where are you?’ I ran barefoot on glass. He appeared and glass was falling off him,” said 60-year-old local resident Halyna.
Ukraine’s military said Russia had launched air and sea-based cruise missiles, anti-aircraft guided missiles and S-300 ADMS at energy infrastructure facilities in eastern, central, western and southern regions. The attacks followed an overnight assault by “kamikaze” drones.
Waves of Russian air strikes in recent months targeting energy infrastructure have left millions without power and heating in often freezing temperatures.
