Massive Russian drone, missile assault rocks Ukraine, killing two, injuring 13
KYIV: Russia sent waves of drones and missiles in an attack on two Ukrainian cities early Tuesday that killed two people and wounded at least thirteen others, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an online statement called the attack "one of the biggest" in the war that has raged for over three years, saying Moscow's forces fired over 315 drones, mostly Shaheds, and seven missiles at Ukraine overnight.
'Russian missile and Shahed strikes are louder than the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace,' Zelenskyy wrote, urging 'concrete action' from the U.S. and Europe in response to the attack.
A maternity hospital and residential buildings in the center of the southern port city of Odesa were damaged in the attack, regional head Oleh Kiper said. Two people were killed and nine injured in the city, according to a statement from the regional prosecutor's office.
Four people were injured in the attack on the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Associated Press journalists heard explosions and the buzzing of drones around the city for hours.
The fresh attacks came hours after Moscow launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine in the biggest overnight drone bombardment in the three-year war. Ukrainian and Western officials have been anticipating a Russian response to Ukraine's audacious June 1 drone attack on distant Russian air bases.
Plumes of smoke were visible in Kyiv as air defense forces worked to shoot down drones and missiles Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian residents took shelter and slept in metro stations during the hourslong attack. Nina Nosivets, 32, and her 8-month-old son Levko were among them.
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