Russian raids have once again hit Ukraine and its capital Kiev, the target of a combined attack overnight: dozens of victims and wounded, damage in seven districts, fires and a blackout are the results of the offensive on the country's most important city.
"Explosions in the city. Air defense forces are in action! Stay in shelters!" read a Telegram message from the capital's mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko.
In the Podilskyi district, Ukrinform reports, several cars are on fire following the attack; in another area, rocket fragments fell on the roof of a house, starting a fire and shattering windows. In another town in the Obolon district, a fire was reported inside a building under construction.
Another Russian attack on the city of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, left four dead and at least 16 injured, many of them seriously. Kharkiv was also hit by 15 attack drones and two missiles, injuring at least ten people in the city, including an 11-year-old girl. A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person in Russia's Kursk region.
Moscow confirmed it carried out "a massive attack" on Ukraine overnight, including the use of hypersonic missiles, but claimed it hit military targets . The Defense Ministry, quoted by Tass, said drones and air-, land-, and sea-launched missiles were used against "defense industry facilities" in the regions of Kiev, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnytsky, and Sumy, as well as fuel depots, transport infrastructure, and military airfields.
According to Bloomberg, senior officials from the Russian Treasury Ministry and the Central Bank have warned President Vladimir Putin that war spending in Ukraine is on an unsustainable trajectory . The officials reportedly warned the Kremlin that the current level of planned defense spending risks dangerously increasing the government's budget deficit. The officials have proposed further defense spending cuts.
(Unioneonline)
