Russian forces target Kyiv in fresh air strikes

Kyiv, December 5

Russia unleashed a new barrage of missiles on Ukraine on Monday, killing two people, destroying homes in the southeast and causing major power outages, officials said.

Air raid sirens blared in the capital Kyiv and across the country in what officials described as the latest wave of Russian missile strikes.

The attack followed a spate of heavy Russian air strikes on energy facilities in recent weeks. Kyiv authorities had earlier told residents they would be able to stop imposing emergency blackouts after repair work following the previous attacks.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones attacked two air bases at Ryazan and Saratov in south-central Russia, killing three servicemen, wounding four and damaging two aircraft, Russia’s defence ministry said.

Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for the attacks. If it was behind them, they would be the deepest inside the Russian heartland since Moscow invaded Ukraine.

One of the targets, the Engels air base near the city of Saratov, around 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow, houses bomber planes belonging to Russia’s strategic nuclear forces.

“The Kyiv regime, in order to disable Russian long-range aircraft, made attempts to strike with Soviet-made unmanned jet aerial vehicles at the military airfields Dyagilevo, in the Ryazan region, and Engels, in the Saratov region,” the Russian defence ministry said.

Netblocks, a London-based internet monitor, said that connectivity had plunged in multiple Ukrainian regions during the strikes.

Throngs of people packed into Kyiv’s vast underground metro to take shelter. Men, women and children sat gloomily wrapped up in warm hats, thick coats and wearing their hoods up.

“Don’t ignore the alarm,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff, said as air raid alerts were issued across Ukraine.

Disruptions to electricity supply in neighbouring Moldova were reported by the Moldelectrica electricity company. — Reuters