BIG escalation in Russia-Ukraine war as Russian missile strikes decimate Kyiv, killing 9; Ukraine says Iran-made Shahed drones were…

Russia-Ukraine war: In a major escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian missile strikes caused large-scale destruction across Ukraine, including the capital city of Kyiv, killing at least nine people, and injuring 53 others. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia launched three ballistic missiles, and a barrage of Iranian Shahed strike drones, in overnight attacks from Friday into Saturday.

9 killed as Russia rains down drones, ballistic missiles on Ukraine

“Russia launched three Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” air-launched ballistic missiles, as well as 135 different strike drones, including Iran-made Shahed drones, from the areas of Orel, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Kursk, Millerovo, Bryansk, and Chauda Hvardiyske located in the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea,” EuroNews quoted regional authorities as saying.

As per the report, at least nine people have been killed and 53 injured in Russian strikes across Ukraine over the past 24 hours. Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschk told EuroNews that seven people were killed and 36 injured in Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital city on Friday, while nine neighbourhoods in the city sustained widespread damage.

Which regions were hit?

Additionally, as many as 34 communities of the southern region of Kherson suffered attacks as well as the frontline city of Kherson, which was divided by the Dnipro river, where one person was reported dead by its Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. In Donetsk, one person was injured in the city of Kramatorsk, according to its governor. Kramatorsk, known as a place where families wait to reunite with soldiers coming back from the frontlines, EuroNews reported.

A 65-year-old man was also reportedly killed in the Nikopol district in the region of Dnipropetrovsk, as the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv also suffered Russian attacks overnight.

Ukraine’s Armed Force claimed that two Kh-47M2 “Kinzhal” ballistic missiles and 91 Shahed drones launched by Russia were either shot down or jammed, even as 13 locations across the country were struck by drones and one missile, whilst debris from destroyed drones falling from the sky hit four areas.

Meanwhile, a major oil terminal in the Russian port city of Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai temporarily suspended its operations, approximately 2% of global exports, following Ukrainian attacks on Friday, according to multiple Russian officials and Telegram channels.

Major escalation in Russia-Ukraine war

The recent wave of attacks from both sides mark a major escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, amid US President Doland Trump’s efforts to forge a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, and bring an end to the hostilities that have raged since the war broke out in February 2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.