Dozens injured as massive Russian airstrikes batter Ukrainian cities

A Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv on Monday morning left 23 people injured and caused damage to over 40 buildings, according to Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov.

Preliminary information indicated that the attack was carried out using an S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Synyehubov said, adding that 14 people had been hospitalised as a result of the attack.

Another Russian missile strike on the southwestern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Monday morning injured 11 people and caused widespread damage to infrastructure, Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper announced.

Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region also experienced some 200 airstrikes on nine different towns and villages overnight, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov, including one that he said had injured a 13-year-old boy.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Monday morning that it had shot down 71 of the 145 Russian drones used to attack several Ukrainian regions overnight.

“Since last evening alone, Russia has launched nearly 150 strike drones, aerial bombs, and missiles, targeting over 10 of our regions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that such attacks could have been prevented by greater support from Ukraine’s partners.

“These Russian strikes on Ukrainian lives can be stopped — with pressure, with sanctions, by blocking the occupiers’ access to the components they use to manufacture the means of this terror, by providing arms packages for Ukraine, and with a determination that must be unwavering,” he said.