Russian missiles and drones pounded Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine on Monday as Ukrainian forces fired over 600 drones into Russian regions.
According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian strikes on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed at least 22 people, and 85 were injured. Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia fired 351 drones and 68 missiles, including 29 ballistic missiles, that mainly targeted Kyiv, and that all of the ballistic missiles got through Ukraine’s air defenses and struck targets.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces delivered a “massive” attack on the Ukrainian capital in response to what it called Ukraine’s “terrorist attacks” in Russia, as there has been a spike in civilian casualties in Russian regions in recent months.
The ministry claimed that the attack targeted “military-industrial enterprises, fuel and energy sites” in the Ukrainian capital, though photos show residential buildings were also heavily damaged, and that Russian forces also hit “infrastructure of military airfields” in several other Ukrainian regions.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that its forces shot down 613 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions. At least one woman was killed by the Ukrainian drone barrage in Crimea, and seven people were wounded when a drone hit a bus in Russia’s Belgorod region.
The ministry vowed that Russia’s attacks on Ukraine would intensify, saying that the Western attempts to use Ukraine “for attacks on Russian civilian facilities will be countered by an increase in the number and severity of strikes on Ukrainian territory.”
The exchange of attacks comes as NATO leaders are convening in Ankara, Turkey, for the annual NATO summit, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will plead for more military aid, especially air defenses.
