Ukraine was hit with “massive” Russian missile strikes across the country on Thursday, including in the capital Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said.
“December 29. Massive missiles attack … The enemy is attacking Ukraine from various directions with air and sea-based cruise missiles from strategic aircraft and ships,” Ukraine’s air force said on social media.
According to presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak, more than 120 missiles were fired.
After a series of battlefield setbacks and lost territory this summer and autumn, Moscow has stepped up its aerial campaign and has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with drones and missiles.
On Thursday morning, blasts were reported in cities across the country, including the capital Kyiv where mayor Vitaly Klitschko warned of potential power cuts and called on residents to stock up on water.
Two private houses were hit by fragments of downed missiles in the east of the capital while an “industrial enterprise” and a playground were damaged in the city’s southwest, the Kyiv city military administration said.
There was a “series of explosions” in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv in the country’s east, mayor Igor Terekhov said.
Most of Ukraine’s western city of Lviv was left without electricity after fresh Russian missile strikes on Thursday morning, the city’s mayor Andryi Sadovyi said.
“Ninety percent of the city is without electricity,” Sadoviy said on social media, also warning of potential water cuts. “We are waiting for more information from energy experts. Trams and trolleybuses are not running in the city.”
Lviv region governor Maksim Kozytski said air defense was operating and called on residents to take remain in air-raid shelters.
