Darkness Descends: Ukraine’s Capital Hit by Sinister Revenge Missile Strike
Yesterday, RUSSIA boasted of launching a retaliatory missile assault against Ukraine, which briefly plunged Kyiv into darkness and cut power to a nuclear power plant.
However, hours after the deadly barrage, power was restored to the capital, and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was reconnected, preventing a meltdown.
These were the most hypersonic missiles the Kremlin has ever launched in a single attack.
At least nine civilians were killed when 81 missiles were fired at Kharkiv in the north, Odesa in the south, and Lviv in the west.
Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, stated that Russia had once again failed to destroy his country’s energy infrastructure.
He stated, “Russian terrorists have launched another massive assault against Ukraine.
“The energy infrastructure of Ukraine was the primary target. They attempted to destroy it again and failed.”
However, officials warned that there was no electricity, water, or heating in northern Kharkiv last night.
The barrage included 48 cruise missiles launched from submarines and warships in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Caspian Sea, as well as jets and long-range bombers launched from Russia and Belarus.
Officials suspect that Russia launched eight Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones to distract Ukraine’s air defenses.
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Darkness Descends: Ukraine’s Capital Hit by Sinister Revenge Missile Strike. Ukraine announced that it had intercepted 34 of the 48 cruise missiles and four of the eight Iranian drones.
However, air force spokesman Colonel Yurii Ihnat warned that they were unable to stop the hypersonic Kinzhals and repurposed S-300 missiles that Russia now employs as ground attack weapons.
He stated, “The enemy employed a wide variety of weapons to distract air defense units.” They attacked with aircraft and vessels from all three oceans.”
The hypersonic Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, also known as Dagger missiles, can attain five times the speed of sound and maneuver at more than 3,850 mph to evade Ukraine’s air defenses.
Col Ihnat added, “I do not recall so many Kinzhal missiles being launched simultaneously during this conflict.”
Britain stated that Russia was running out of Iranian drones and warned that Moscow would attempt to acquire more.
Furthermore, Western officials have repeatedly asserted that the Kremlin is running out of high-tech missiles and is unable to replace them due to sanctions on Western-made components.
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Putin’s missile barrages have become less frequent since he targeted the country’s power grid in the fall of 2013.
Col Ihnat stated that Russia had “a few dozen” Kinzhals remaining.
He also asserted that Ukraine was unable to stop the 950-kilogram warhead-equipped Kh-22 missiles.
At least six of them were fired during the most recent attacks. The reactors at the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, which Russia seized last year, are cooled by electricity from Ukraine’s national grid.
Officials reported that its generators had enough fuel for 15 days in the event of a power outage.
The most recent attacks killed at least five people in a village near Lviv, one person in Dnipro, and three civilians in artillery shelling of the city of Kherson in the south.
The Russian defense ministry claimed the strikes were retaliation for pro-Ukraine Russian attacks in Bryansk, Western Russia.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Putin’s largest barrage of missiles since mid-February as a “grave violation” of nuclear safety.
He stated, “Zaporizhzhia is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, and Russia is endangering the entire European continent, including Russia.”
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, also expressed concern: “What are we doing to prevent this from occurring?
“Each time, we roll the dice. If we allow this to continue repeatedly, our good fortune will eventually run out.”
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, residents stood atop a massive shell crater as water supplies were cut off for the day.
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After two rockets destroyed residential buildings in Lviv, a girl rescued her dog from the rubble.
Viktor Bukhta, 57, was awakened by a nearby missile explosion in Kyiv. He stated, “We entered the yard. There were injuries. The cars then caught fire.
“We attempted to put them out with car fire extinguishers. And I received a minor burn.”
It also left portions of the capital without heat and occurred just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a military hospital to present a heroism medal to a soldier fighting in Bakhmut.
Yesterday, he stated, “The enemy fired 81 missiles in a renewed attempt to intimidate Ukrainians, reverting to their pathetic tactics.”
Ukraine was warned that it could face an additional two years of bloodshed if it remains unconquered despite suffering heavy damage.
According to Lithuanian military intelligence, Russia has sufficient resources to continue the war at the same intensity for the foreseeable future.
The head of military intelligence, Elegijus Paulavicius, stated that Russia had amassed weapons and equipment throughout the Cold War.
It follows widespread outrage over video footage of an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war shouting “Glory to Ukraine” as he was executed by machine gunners.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Latvia, automobiles seized from drunk drivers were loaded onto lorries destined for use by Ukrainian hospitals and the military.
Since the launch of the program this year, the Baltic nation’s police have impounded 200 vehicles.
They will be used by soldiers and medical personnel to traverse Ukraine.
