Russia rains missiles, drones on Kyiv
KYIV—Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the western region of Lviv came under a “massive” Russian air attack early on Sunday, officials said, while Poland said a missile fired by Moscow’s forces violated its airspace.
Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with Sunday’s strikes also coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske west of Bakhmut.
A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday evening that killed at least 133 people also became a new flashpoint between the two archrivals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to tie Kyiv to the concert hall attack, saying four “perpetrators” were detained while traveling towards Ukraine.
Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement, saying that Russia was looking for excuses to step up the war.
The United States has said it has seen no sign of Ukrainian involvement in the Crocus City Hall attack.
“Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not leave shelters,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram on Sunday.
Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said Stryi district, south of the city of Lviv, near the Polish border, was also attacked.Ukraine was earlier placed under a nationwide air alert that warned of cruise missiles being launched from Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers. The alert was lifted about two hours later.
‘Terror’ from the sky
Russia launched 57 missiles and drones on Ukraine in the early hours of Sunday
Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said the missiles were fired at the capital “in groups” in the third predawn attack in four days.
Preliminary reports suggested there were no casualties or damage, he said, and the city’s air defenses had hit “about a dozen” missiles.
“The enemy continues massive missile terror against Ukraine,” Popko said on Telegram. “It does not give up its goal of destroying Kyiv at any cost.”
US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink also noted the increased frequency of recent attacks.
“Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law,” Brink wrote on social media platform X.
In Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovy said about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the region.
“They targeted critical infrastructure,” Sadovy said.
The Polish armed forces said Russia violated its airspace during the attack on Sunday.
In Polish airspace
“On March 24 at 4:23 a.m. (0323 GMT), there was a violation of Polish airspace by one of the cruise missiles launched overnight by long-range aviation of the Russian Federation,” the armed forces said on the social media platform X. “The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds. During the entire flight, it was observed by military radar systems.”
The Polish Foreign Ministry said it would demand explanations from Russia over the airspace violation.
The Polish Armed Forces Operational Command (RSZ) said its forces were on a heightened state of readiness because of the “intensive long-range aviation activity of the Russian Federation.”
Russia and Ukraine have increased their air attacks in recent weeks.
Kyiv, which has struggled to find weapons and soldiers after more than two years of war, has promised to retaliate by taking the fighting to Russian soil.
Multiple air attacks on Saturday on the Russian border region of Belgorod adjoining Ukraine killed two people and injured at least seven, the regional governor said.
Further east, a drone attack on the Samara region caused a fire at a major oil refinery, the latest in a series of strikes against Russia’s energy industry.Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that two districts in his region, as well as the regional capital, Belgorod, had been hit in drone and air attacks. —reports from AFP, REUTERS
