‘We cannot be broken’ vows Ukraine as Russia launches barrage of deadly missiles across the country
- Ukrainian air defences shot down 47 of the 55 missiles, the country’s top general said on Thursday
- The missile strikes killed at least 11, and came hours after an overnight drone attack, 15 of which were shot down
Russian warplanes launched a wave of missiles at Ukraine during rush hour on Thursday morning and Ukrainians took cover in shelters as air defence forces shot down incoming salvoes, officials said.
An air raid alert wailed across the country as people were heading to work. In the capital Kyiv, crowds of people sheltered in underground metro stations, with some sitting on blankets or small plastic chairs.
“Eleven people died, another eleven were injured,” Ukrainian emergency services said on Telegram, after the massive new wave of attacks targeted the pro-Western country’s energy infrastructure, triggering emergency blackouts in a number of regions.
Ukrainian air defences shot down 47 of the 55 missiles, the country’s top general said later on Thursday.
Moscow used the Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile, among other models, General Valery Zaluzhny said on his Telegram channel. Twenty of the incoming missiles were shot down around the area of the capital Kyiv, he added.
“The goal of the Russians remains unchanged: psychological pressure on Ukrainians and the destruction of critical infrastructure”, he wrote. “But we cannot be broken!”
Russia has targeted the power grid with missile and drone strikes since October, causing sweeping blackouts and other outages during winter. The latest missile strikes came hours after an overnight drone attack.