Kyiv, Jan 2 (EFE).- Russian troops fired over 130 missiles and drones against Ukraine, killing at least five people and injuring 127 others, the Ukrainian government said Tuesday.
During the massive attack that mainly hit Kyiv, its surrounding regions, and Kharkiv in the northeast, Russian forces fired at least 99 missiles of various types and 35 suicide-drones.
“The total number of victims across Ukraine has increased to 127. Five people died,” the country’s State Emergency Service said in an update on its Telegram channel.
Earlier, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian attacks had killed four people and injured 92 others. “My condolences go out to their families and close ones,” he said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
According to the president, 70 missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian defense systems.
“Almost 60 of these interceptions occurred in the vicinity of Kyiv. Our air defense forces have been doing incredible work,” he said.
The strikes on Tuesday are the latest in an escalation over recent days that has seen Russia and Ukraine attack each other with barrages of missile and drone strikes.
Zelenskyy said that since Dec. 31 Russia had launched around 170 Iranian-made Shahed drones and dozens of various missiles into Ukrainian territory.
“The vast majority of them targeted civilian infrastructure,” he added.
Praising the country’s air defense forces, the president emphasized that the air defense systems were saving “hundreds of lives every day and night” in the face of what he described as “Russian terror.”
The Russian “terrorist state must feel the consequences of what it does,” he insisted.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that, in the first wave of the attack, Russia launched 35 Shahed drones, all of which were intercepted.
The Russian military then deployed 16 Tu-95MS bombers, firing at least 70 Kh-101, Kh-555, and Kh-55 cruise missiles over Ukraine, followed by MiG-31K fighters bombing the Ukrainian cities with ten hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missiles.
Russian forces also launched at least three Kalibr cruise missiles from the nearby sea and at least 12 Iskander-M, S-300, and S-400 missiles from the north, it said. EFE
cae-int/bks/ks
