Ukraine has suffered a second night of deadly Russian airstrikes just hours after a “massive” bombing raid destroyed energy infrastructure and civilian buildings using waves of drones and hypersonic missiles.
At least four people were killed in the attacks, including two confirmed dead after a missile strike “destroyed” a four-story hotel in the city of Kryvyi Rih.
Air raid sirens sounded for most of the night in the Ukrainian city, the hometown of President Zelensky, as well as across central and eastern regions from 11pm on Monday.
The attack comes just days after another hotel used by civilians in the Donetsk region was attacked, resulting in the death of former British soldier Ryan Evans, a Reuters security adviser.
President Zelensky said Russia had used more than 90 aerial weapons, including 81 Iranian-made Shahed drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.
“We will certainly respond to Russia for this and all other attacks,” he said in X. “Crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished.”
Ukraine’s leader yesterday condemned Moscow’s “vile” bombing campaign, saying Vladimir Putin’s forces had launched at least 127 missiles and 109 drones on Monday in “one of the biggest Russian attacks” of the war.
The Aurora Hotel in Kryvyi Rih was almost completely destroyed by a Russian airstrike
Local residents stand at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih.
A car crushed by the rubble of a destroyed building in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine
Monday’s attack left seven people dead and 47 wounded across the country. Some of the attacks were aimed at depriving civilians of electricity and water.
The footage shows rescuers continuing to work to locate two missing people at the Aurora Hotel, who are feared to be trapped under the rubble.
Early this morning, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the takeoff of several Tu-95MS bombers from the Engels airfield in western Russia.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down about 15 drones and several missiles near kyiv during Russia’s overnight attack, according to Serhiy Popko, head of kyiv’s military administration.
US President Joe Biden called the attacks “outrageous” but the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War predicted that Moscow “likely lacks the industrial and defence capability to sustain such massive attacks on a similar scale on a regular basis”.
The latest attacks are seen as a reflection of Putin’s anger towards Ukraine, which occupies a strip of territory inside Russia in the Kursk region.
The Aurora Hotel as it was before last night’s strike
An emergency vehicle is seen next to the building where at least two people died last night
Rescuers carry a victim from the site of a Russian missile attack in Kryvyi Rih
Russia has bombarded Ukraine with missiles for a second day in a row, hitting a hotel used by civilians in Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
President Zelensky has asked for Western permission to launch long-range strikes inside Russia with missiles supplied by NATO countries.
Poland has revealed that an unidentified ‘aerial object’ flew into its airspace during the Russian bombing.
General Maciej Klisz, the armed forces’ operational commander, said at least three radar stations had registered the suspected drone.
The military was “in full control” of the situation and was prepared to shoot down the object if necessary, he said.
A search has been launched in case the object fell on Polish territory.
The raid took place near the Ukrainian city of Chervonohrad.
Video shows explosions, purportedly in kyiv, as Russia launched a bombing raid on Ukraine on Monday
Video that Russian Telegram channels SHOT and Mash identified as a high-rise residential building in the city, with one side damaged and several windows blown out on three floors.
In a muted video of a weekend meeting with top military chiefs, Putin is seen visibly enraged.
Meanwhile, in Russia, authorities reported a Ukrainian drone attack overnight.
Four people were injured in the central Saratov region, where drones attacked residential buildings in two cities.
One drone hit a residential building in the city of Saratov, and another hit a residential building in the city of Engels, where there is a military airfield that had been attacked earlier, local officials said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said a total of 22 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight and in the morning in eight provinces, including the Saratov and Yaroslavl regions in central Russia.
Russia also said its troops had repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance on half a dozen settlements in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion on August 6 that took Russia by surprise.
The fighting in the region has raised concerns about the nuclear plant there. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said he would visit the plant on Tuesday.