KYIV, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Russia launched multiple missile and drone strikes targeting parts of Ukraine, killing at least four people, Ukraine’s military said early on Tuesday.
Kyiv region’s air defense systems were used several times overnight to repel missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, the regional military administration said in a Telegram.
Reuters’ witnesses reported at least three rounds of explosions overnight in Kiev.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in a note late Monday that Moscow “lacks the defense-industrial capacity to routinely conduct such massive strikes.”
Several Russian military bloggers, such as the pro-war group Rybar, called the Moscow strikes an “act of retaliation” for Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russian territory — the first such move since World War II.
The scale of Tuesday’s attacks and their full impact were not immediately known, but Ukraine’s air force said it had launched several groups of drones and recorded Tu-85 strategic bombers and MiG-31 supersonic interceptors taking off from Russian airfields. Airplane.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its strikes on Monday hit “all designated targets” in Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.
Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv and central and eastern parts of Ukraine were under an air raid alert overnight starting at around 2000 GMT on Monday.
Two civilians may still be under the rubble of the Kryvyi Rih hotel and five others were injured in the attack, Serhiy Lisak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, where Kryvyi Rih is located, said on Telegram.
Six shops, four high-rise buildings and eight cars were damaged, he said.
In Zaporizhia, two people were killed and four wounded overnight, Ivan Fedorov, governor of the Zaporizhia region, said in a telegram.
“These are the consequences of the Shaheds’ overnight attack on Zaporizhia,” Fedorov said, referring to the Iranian-made kamikaze drones that Kyiv says Russia uses in its attacks.
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Reporting in Kyiv by Valentin Okrenko, Gleb Karanych and Oleksandr Kolukar; Written by Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feist.
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.