Russian missile attack on Ukraine wounds 34, damages homes

Kyiv, The Gulf Observer: Russia launched its second large salvo of missiles at Ukraine in recent days early Monday, damaging buildings and wounding at least 34 people in the eastern city of Pavlohrad but failing to hit Kyiv, officials said.

Air raid sirens began blaring across the capital at about 3:45 a.m., followed by explosions as Ukrainian defense systems intercepted missiles.

Eighteen cruise missiles were fired from the Murmansk and Caspian regions, and 15 of them were intercepted, said Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

The head of Kyiv’s city administration, Serhii Popko, said all missiles fired at the city were shot down, as well as some drones. He didn’t provide further details.

The attack follows Friday’s launch of more than 20 cruise missiles and two explosive drones at Ukraine, the first to target Kyiv in nearly two months.

In that attack, Russian missiles hit an apartment building in Uman, a city about 215 kilometers (135 miles) south of Kyiv, killing 21 people, including three children.

In Monday’s attack, missiles hit Pavlohrad, in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding 34 people, including five children, according to Serhii Lysak, the region’s top official.

Seven missiles were shot at the city and “some were intercepted” but others struck an industrial facility, sparking a fire. Damage was reported to 24 apartment buildings, 89 homes, six schools and five shops, according to regional authorities.

Missiles also hit three other areas in the Dnipropetrovsk region, damaging residential buildings and a school, Lysak said.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Monday that Russia conducted “a group missile strike with long-range precision-guided airborne and seaborne weapons on facilities of Ukraine’s defense industry … all designated facilities were struck.”

A Russian-installed official in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov, said the attack hit ammunition and fuel depots in Pavlohrad, which he said would impede Ukraine’s planned counteroffensive.

The attacks also damaged Ukraine’s power network infrastructure, which will take several days to repair, according to Ukraine’s energy minister, Herman Haluschenko. He said that nearly 20,000 people in the city of Kherson and wider region had been left without power, along with others in the Dnipropetrovsk region.