Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said.
Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut.
A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals.
Photo: Reuters
“Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not leave shelters,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram yesterday.
Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said that Stryi District, south of the city of Lviv, near the Polish border, was also attacked.
Ukraine was earlier placed under a nationwide air alert that warned of cruise missiles being launched from Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers. The alert was lifted about two hours later.
Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said the missiles were fired at the capital “in groups” in the third predawn attack in four days.
Preliminary reports suggested there were no casualties or damage, he said, and the city’s air defenses had hit “about a dozen” missiles.
“The enemy continues massive missile terror against Ukraine,” Popko wrote on Telegram. “It does not give up its goal of destroying Kyiv at any cost.”
US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink also addressed the increased frequency of recent attacks.
“Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law,” Brink wrote on X.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovy said that about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the region.
Meanwhile, for about 40 seconds, “Polish airspace was breached by one of the cruise missiles fired in the night by the air forces ... of the Russian Federation,” the Polish Armed Forces wrote on X.
“The object flew through Polish airspace above the village of Oserdow [Lublin Voivodeship] and stayed for 39 seconds,” the statement added.
The missile was tracked by military radar throughout its flight, the army said.
“The Polish army is constantly monitoring the situation on Ukrainian territory and remains on permanent alert to ensure the security of Polish airspace,” said the army.
Poland activated its air defence procedures during the incident, the operational command of the armed forces said in its statement.
A similar incident occurred on Dec. 29 last year, when a Russian missile penetrated Polish airspace for several minutes before returning to Ukraine.
In November 2022, two people were killed when a Ukrainian air-defense missile fell on the Polish village of Przewodow, close to the Ukrainian border.
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long
RSS