At least 23 killed in Russian attack on Ukraine, Zelenskyy asks West for interceptors

(Patria) - Russia attacked Ukraine early on Tuesday with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, killing 23 people and wounding 130, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow could launch a new attack for a second consecutive night, Reuters reported late on Monday.

The attacks on cities, including Kyiv and Dnipro, followed Russian warnings of "systematic" strikes on the capital after a drone attack on a dormitory in Ukraine's Russian-controlled Luhansk region last month. Kyiv denies targeting the dormitory.

It was the third heavy attack on Kyiv in less than a month, but Russia has relentlessly attacked Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, since it invaded its neighbor in 2022.

Negotiations on the war in Ukraine, mediated by the United States, have stalled, with Washington focused on Iran, while Russia's advance on the battlefield has slowed and Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Zelenskyy calls for air defense supplies

Zelenskyy said there was evidence that Russian forces could strike again on Tuesday evening.

"According to our intelligence, another large-scale attack could occur tonight," he said in his nightly video address. "Please, I strongly urge you to pay attention to air raid warnings."

Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine lacks weapons to counter incoming Russian missiles.

"Unfortunately, the current level of supplies for our air defense does not allow us to intercept a significant portion of the missiles," he said.

He said more than 70 missiles and 650 drones were launched at Ukraine overnight, and Russian forces launched another 100 drones during the day on Tuesday.

Earlier, the Ukrainian president called on Washington to send additional Patriot missile interceptors.

"If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile attacks, these attacks will continue," Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

The Kremlin said the war had entered a "new paradigm" after what it called "inhumane terrorist acts" by the Ukrainian military against civilians, echoing accusations Kyiv has leveled against Russian forces. Moscow warned last week of systematic attacks and called on foreigners to leave Kyiv.

Zelenskyy sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress last week, requesting air defense systems. Officials said he had not received a response as of Monday.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on partners to impose stricter sanctions on Moscow and provide greater military support.

"Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change that. What we can change is Russia's ability to continue terror," Sybiha wrote on social media platform X.

The United States is Ukraine's main foreign arms supplier, but Kyiv has also purchased Patriot missiles through a NATO initiative funded by its European allies.

'A kind of apocalypse'

Moscow's war in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands of people, forced a large part of the population to leave their homes, and destroyed cities, towns, and villages. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine.

Ukraine has also hit civilian targets during attacks on Russia or areas under Russian occupation, though on a much smaller scale. Both sides deny targeting civilians.

In New York, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "strongly condemned" the Russian attacks. He reiterated Guterres' call for "an urgent de-escalation, which would lead to a complete, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire in this conflict."

Photos on Tuesday showed explosions and smoke billowing above high-rise buildings in Kyiv, where officials said seven people were killed, including one person whom Mayor Vitali Klitschko said died while being treated in hospital. At least ninety people were wounded.

"We couldn't understand what was happening - a kind of apocalypse," said Olha Mudra, her face and clothes covered in dust, at the site of one attack, accompanied by her six-year-old daughter Natalia.

Sixteen people were killed overnight, including two boys, in the southeastern city of Dnipro, local officials said. At least two people were injured in attacks later on Tuesday.

In Kyiv, at least nine high-rise buildings, a kindergarten, a clinic, offices, and administrative buildings were damaged. The attack cut power to 140,000 residents, the DTEK energy company said.

More than 40,000 people took shelter in Kyiv's metro system - the largest number in recent years. Some carried pets, belongings, and mattresses.

The Russia-appointed head of parts of the Donetsk region said one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack.

Hypersonic missiles

Ukraine's air force said the attack included 33 ballistic missiles that are difficult to shoot down and eight Zircon hypersonic missiles, appearing to be the largest number of such missiles used at once during the war.

The Zircon has a range of 1,000 km and travels nine times faster than the speed of sound, Moscow said. Ukrainian air force units shot down or neutralized 40 missiles and 602 drones, but the Zircon was not listed among them.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it launched a "massive strike" on defense industry targets using high-precision long-range weapons, hitting ten military production sites in Kyiv.

Russian regions were also attacked. The Ilsky oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region caught fire after a drone attack, local authorities said on Telegram. The Ukrainian military confirmed the attack.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense units destroyed eight Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital in the hours before midnight on Tuesday.

Russia shot down 148 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defense ministry.