Almost all Ukrainian cities are hit by Russian missiles. In total, 122 missiles and 36 drones were launched against Ukrainian targets. Ukrainian authorities declare that the Russian attack of December 28 and 29, 2023 is the largest air attack since the start of the Russian invasion.
Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channel: “The most massive air attack” since the all-out invasion of Russia in February 2022.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the previous largest assault took place in November 2022, when Russia launched 96 missiles against Ukraine. This year, 81 missiles were launched on March 9, according to Air Force records.
Fighting along the front line is largely bogged down by winter weather after Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive failed to make a significant breakthrough along the roughly 1,000-kilometer line of contact .
Ukrainian officials have urged the country’s Western allies to provide it with more air defenses to protect against air attacks such as Friday’s. The calls came as signs of fatigue strain efforts to keep support in place.
Western officials and analysts have warned that Russia has limited its cruise missile strikes in recent months in an apparent bid to build up stockpiles for massive strikes over the winter, hoping to break the spirit Ukrainians.
According to Ukrainian authorities, at least 86 people were injured and an unknown number were buried under rubble during the assault which lasted around 18 hours. Damaged buildings across Ukraine include a maternity hospital, apartment buildings and schools.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kremlin forces used a wide variety of weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
“Today, Russia has used almost every type of weapon in its arsenal,” Zelensky said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Russia “apparently launched everything it has,” except for submarine-launched Kalibr missiles, during the attack.
The air attack that began Thursday and continued throughout the night hit six cities, including the capital, Kyiv, and other areas from east to west and north to south of Ukraine, authorities say .
Reports of deaths and damage came in from across the country.
In Odessa, on the south coast, the fall of a drone carcass sparked a fire in a multi-story residential building, according to the head of the region, Oleh Kiper. Two people were killed and 15 others, including two children, were injured during the Odessa attack.
The mayor of the western city of Lviv, Andrii Sadovyi, said one person was killed and eight injured, and three schools and a kindergarten were damaged in a drone attack in the area.
Several dozen missiles were launched toward Kyiv overnight, and more than 30 of them were intercepted, said Serhii Poplo, head of Kyiv’s military administration. The attack sparked a fire at a warehouse in the capital’s Podil district, where five people were reportedly pulled from the rubble.
In northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city suffered at least three waves of air attacks overnight, including firing of S-300 and Kh-3 missiles. 21. One person was killed and at least nine others were injured, authorities said.
