A Ukrainian MP’s home was damaged in a major Russian missile bombardment that targeted the country’s two largest cities, killing at least five people.
Kira Rudik, leader of the liberal Holos opposition party, said she suffered “minor injuries” in a blast which left her Kyiv home “partially in rubble” as Moscow launched dozens of attack drones and high-velocity projectiles at the capital and northeastern Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s air force said the barrage involved some of Russia’s most powerful weapons, including its hypersonic Kinzhal missile, which is notoriously difficult to intercept.
It claimed to have shot down 73 of the 99 missiles launched by Moscow’s forces and all of the 35 drones that were deployed.
The assault came after Vladimir Putin threatened reprisals for an attack on Russia’s border city of Belgorod on Saturday which killed at least 25 people and wounded more than 100 others.
Loud explosions were reported over Kyiv as air-defence systems attempted to head off wave after wave of long-range attack on the capital.
Massive plumes of smoke rose into the skies above the city as Vitali Klitschko, its mayor, said debris from intercepted projectiles had caused fires and caused power outages.