Russia targets cities and infrastructure in largest air attack since war began, Ukraine says

Kyiv, Ukraine (CNN) — Russia launched a “massive” missile and drone attack aimed at energy infrastructure across Ukraine at the start of the week, marking the biggest air assault since the war began, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow has since followed that with a second wave of strikes early Tuesday morning.

Monday’s onslaught, which killed at least seven people and caused power outages in several cities, marked Russia’s “most massive air attack” in more than two-and-a-half years of conflict, according to Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk.

The nationwide strikes used “more than 100 missiles of various types and around 100 Shahed drones,” Zelensky said. Ukraine shot down 102 of the missiles and 99 attack drones, Oleshchuk said.

At least 15 regions were targeted by a combination of drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, officials said, from the frontline eastern regions of Kharkiv and Dnipro to the southern port city of Odesa, as well as the capital, Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky vowed to retaliate against Russia for the attack during a daily address as he implored allies to lift restrictions on using Western weapons for long-range strikes inside Russian territory.

Long-range strikes are instrumental in “destroying” Russian forces “exactly in the areas” from where they launch strikes on Ukraine, Zelensky said. “This is the optimal counter-terrorism tactic,” he added.

Russia’s Tuesday strikes killed at least five people and injured more than 10 across Ukraine, according to officials. Of those, two died after a missile attack on a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, and three were killed in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Zelensky said those strikes used more than 90 aerial weapons, including 81 Shahed drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

Ukraine had been bracing for a major Russian attack for weeks, in response to Kyiv’s shock incursion into the border region of Kursk – the first foreign invasion of Russia since World War II. Ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day on Saturday, the US Embassy in Kyiv had warned of an increased risk of Russian drone and missile attacks.

Monday’s overnight assault came hours after Ukraine’s foreign ministry called on Belarus to withdraw what it described as a “significant” buildup of Belarusian forces and equipment at their shared border. Kyiv also reported that former Wagner mercenaries were among the troops at the border and urged Minsk “not to make tragic mistakes for their country under Moscow’s pressure.”

Throughout the conflict, Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, attempting to plunge its citizens into darkness and use freezing winter temperatures as a weapon of war. After Monday’s attack, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said “the energy sector is in the crosshairs” and the extent of the damage was being investigated.

“Russian terrorists have once again targeted energy infrastructure,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram Monday.

Ukraine’s national energy company, Ukrenergo, has been forced to implement emergency power cuts to stabilize the system, Shmyhal said. Power outages have been recorded in several cities, including Kyiv and Dnipro, according to Serhii Kovalenko, chief executive of the Yasno energy company.

Later Monday, Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed it had launched “a massive strike with long-range precision air and sea-based weapons” against Ukraine’s power grid and rail lines, which it said disrupted the transport of weapons and ammunition to the frontlines. “All designated targets were hit,” the ministry said.

Deaths from Monday’s strikes were reported in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Volyn, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv regions, according to Ukrainian authorities. At least 47 people were injured in the attacks, including four children, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

CNN teams in Kyiv and Dnipro heard several explosions overnight into Monday.

In Kyiv, the head of the city military administration said air defenses were working in the region and the outskirts of the capital and advised people to stay in shelters. In Kharkiv, emergency services were working at an undisclosed number of sites targeted in the attacks, according to its regional military head.

Although Kyiv’s Western allies have provided Ukraine with vast amounts of military equipment, they have placed strict conditions on how this can be used. Fearing Russian escalation, Western countries have prohibited Ukraine from using the weapons it has been given to strike missile and drone launch sites deep inside Russia, meaning Kyiv has to rely mostly on its air defenses to stem Moscow’s attacks.

Following Monday’s strikes, Ukrainian officials once again asked their allies to allow them to strike deeper into Russia.

“Every leader, every one of our partners, knows the decisive actions required to end this war justly. Ukraine cannot be constrained in its long-range capabilities when the terrorists face no such limitations,” Zelensky said.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, Dmytro Kuleba, also made two requests of Kyiv’s allies: “First, affirming Ukraine’s long-range strikes on all legitimate military targets on Russian territory. Second, agreeing to use partners’ air defense capabilities to shoot down missiles and drones close to their airspace.”

West of Ukraine, Poland’s military said it is searching for what is believed to be a drone that likely entered its territory during Russia’s overnight assault, according to Polish state media.

The Polish armed forces were ready for a possible shooting down of this object, which was not a rocket, that crossed the border on Monday morning but weather conditions did not allow for visual identification, a spokesperson for the Polish army’s operational command Jacek Goryszewski said Monday. He added that no explosions were recorded.

The widespread aerial assault comes two days after a Russian strike on a hotel in the Donetsk region killed a British safety adviser and wounded two journalists over the weekend.

Ryan Evans, a former soldier, had been working with Reuters since 2022 and advised its journalists on safety around the world including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics, the news agency said.

Residents without power

When Kyiv experiences blackouts, a constant, deep roar can be heard over the city – the sound of generators humming in front of shops, as business owners try to minimize the impact of the latest attack.

Maksym Holubchenko a 25-year old barista in Kyiv, was still at home when Russia launched Monday’s early-morning barrage, but he said he went to work anyway.

“This is the reality for us, it’s been nearly three years. Everyone is used to it. Just a normal day, well… it’s not normal – this shouldn’t be happening in the 21st century,” he told CNN.

While the generator keeps the cafe running, it adds extra cost and work. Holubchenko said at the moment, power cuts like the one on Monday happen roughly once a month.

“You need to change oil, the barista has to start it, service it, when we come to work we just want to make coffee and work with people but have to get busy with other things,” he said. With the generator needing some 3.5 liters of fuel every hour, fuel canisters are lined up at the back of the cafe, ready to top it up.

Lights were out in many parts of Kyiv on Monday, with residents saying they lost power after hearing several loud explosions.

“There is nowhere to go and to hide,” Katerina, 35, told CNN by phone on Monday.

She had recently left the city with her child to avoid shelling and is now living without power or water on the capital’s outskirts.

“The explosions were so powerful that the house was shaking and the windows were shaking,” she said. “After four or five explosions, my husband and I decided to wake up the baby and go outside. Since the house was not new and there was no shelter or cellar to hide in, it was not safe to stay inside, because of the shrapnel from the windows.”

Anna, who lives on the right bank of Kyiv, woke up to an air-raid alarm followed by explosions.

“The bulk of the missiles were shot down in the region, but even from there I could hear the sounds of explosions and the work of the air defense. My friends from other parts of the city wrote that their electricity and water were cut off,” she said.

In Kyiv metro station, which has been used throughout the war as an air-raid shelter, residents told CNN how they had woken in fear to the sound of sirens.

“I woke up from explosions and immediately came to the subway,” Dmytro, 18, told CNN. “It was scary to hear the sound of explosions. Kyiv hasn’t been shelled for a long period.”

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This story has been updated with additional details.