5 killed in large Russian missile, drone attacks, says Zelensky
BBC:
Five people have died and tens of thousands have been left without power in Ukraine after intense Russian missile and drone attacks overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Four members of one family, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed by a strike in the village of Lapaivka as attacks mostly targeted the western region of Lviv.
Ukraine’s neighbour Poland scrambled fighter jets in order to ensure the safety of Polish airspace, the Polish military confirmed. Allied Nato aircraft were also deployed.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had successfully carried out a “massive” strike on Ukrainian military and infrastructure targets.
One person also died in Zaporizhzhia. Zelensky said Russia fired more than 50 missiles and around 500 attack drones. Ukraine’s air force put the combined figure at 549.
Lviv endured several hours of strikes, leading to the suspension of public transport services and the cutting of electrical supplies.
Maksym Kozytskyi, Lviv’s regional head, said it was the largest attack on the region since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He said around 163 drones and missiles were identified in the area.
Another family member was injured, as were two neighbours, in the strike that killed their relatives in Lapaivka.
The Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Kirovohrad regions were also targeted as well as Lviv and Zaporizhzhia, according to Zelensky.
He added: “We need more protection and faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially on air defense, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning.
“A unilateral ceasefire in the skies is possible – and it is precisely that which could open the way to real diplomacy.”
The Russian assaults came days after a US official said the US would support Ukraine launching deep strikes inside Russian territory.
“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said in a post on X.
At 05:10 (02:10 GMT), all of Ukraine was under air raid alerts following Ukrainian Air Force warnings of Russian missile and drone attacks.
Russia continues to focus its attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
Kyiv’s energy ministry said overnight attacks caused damage in Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv and Sumy.
In Zaporizhzhia, Russia’s overnight attack left “more than 73,000 consumers… without electricity” after a power plant was struck, according to Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor.
A woman was killed and several others injured in the region.
A 16-year-old girl was among those receiving medical assistance, Fedorov added, posting photos apparently showing a partly destroyed multi-storey block and a burnt-out car from the site of the attack.
Emergency outages were implemented in Chernihiv and Sumy, the energy ministry added.
Lviv’s mayor Andriy Sadovyi said part of the city – 70 km (43 miles) from the border with Poland – had no power, adding that city’s air defence systems were engaged heavily in repelling first a drone and then a Russian missile attack.
Ukraine’s air force said it recorded direct hits by eight Russian missiles and 57 drones at 20 locations across the country, as well as fragments from downed weapons at six locations.
It said 478 missiles and drones were downed and six did not reach their targets.