A deadly barrage of 81 missiles and Iranian-made drones hit Ukraine in at least 10 different regions, including Kyiv, Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.
At least 16 people were killed and over 20 were injured in the attack that hit residential buildings and “critical infrastructure” across the country, according to “preliminary information from regional authorities,” CNN reported.
What happened in the missile attack?
Russia fired 81 missiles at the regions of Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in a Facebook post.
Six of the missiles were hypersonic missiles that can evade Ukraine’s air defenses.
“So far, we have no capabilities to counter these weapons,” said Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force Command of Ukraine, per CNN.
The attack also knocked a nuclear plant off the power grid for several hours and left “hundreds of thousands without heat or electricity,” The Associated Press reported.
What did President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say about the attack?
In a statement on Facebook, Zelenskyy said the “massive rocket attack” was an “attempt to intimidate Ukrainians again.”
“The occupiers can only terrorize civilians. That’s all they can do. But it won’t help them. They won’t avoid responsibility for everything they have done,” he stated.