Russian Missile and Drone Attack on Ukraine Hits Multiple Targets, Including Kyiv

By Associated Press

Published 5 days ago on

December 31, 2024

Russia's aerial assault on Ukraine intensifies, targeting multiple regions and raising concerns about future support. (AP/Alex Babenko)

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched an aerial attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, striking the capital and other regions with multiple missiles and drones.

Ukraine’s air force reported a ballistic missile threat at 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT), with at least two explosions heard in Kyiv minutes later. Another missile alert was issued at 8:00 a.m. followed by at least one explosion in the city. Missile debris fell in the Darnytskyi district of the capital with no reports of casualties or damage, the local administration said.

Authorities in the northeastern Sumy region reported strikes near the city of Shostka, where the mayor, Mykola Noha, said 12 residential buildings had been damaged as well as two educational facilities. He said some “social infrastructure objects” were destroyed, without providing detail.

The air force also reported missiles and drones targeting several other regions of Ukraine.

In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces successfully struck a Ukrainian air base and a gunpowder factory.

Widespread Power Outages

Around half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been destroyed during the war, and rolling electricity blackouts are common and widespread.

Kyiv’s Western allies have provided air defense systems to help Ukraine protect critical infrastructure, but Russia has sought to overwhelm its air defenses with combined strikes involving large numbers of missiles and drones.

Uncertainty Looms Over Conflict

Russian attacks come as uncertainty looms over the course of the nearly three-year conflict. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office next month, has vowed to end the war and has thrown into doubt whether vital U.S. military support for Kyiv will continue.

On Monday, President Joe Biden announced that the United States will send an additional $2.5 billion in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend all the money it has available to help Kyiv fight off Russia before Trump takes office.

Ukraine has struck back at Russia with a steady barrage of missile and drone attacks throughout the year.

Russian Defense Claims

Early Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses shot down 68 Ukrainian drones over several regions early Tuesday and sank eight uncrewed boats in the Black Sea.

Head of the Smolensk region in western Russia, Vasily Anokhin, said drone fragments fell on the territory of an oil depot, sparking a blaze.

In Russia-occupied Crimea, the Moscow-appointed head of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said that Russian defenses downed four aerial drones attacking the city and sank two uncrewed boats near the shore.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, known under its acronym GUR, claimed that one of its naval drones on Tuesday shot down a Russian helicopter with a missile, marking the first time when an aerial target was destroyed by an uncrewed vessel.

It said a MaguraV5 naval drone downed a Russian Mi-8 helicopter with an R-73 missile near Cape Tarkhankut, the westernmost point of the Crimean peninsula. Another Russian helicopter was damaged but managed to reach an airfield, GUR said.

Russia has held the initiative this year as its military has steadily rammed through Ukrainian defenses in the east in a series of slow but steady offensives.

Still, in August, Ukraine launched a raid into Russia’s Kursk region that caught Moscow by surprise, dealing a significant blow to the Kremlin’s prestige. The Russian army has been able to reclaim some territory of the area there from Ukrainian forces but has failed to fully dislodge them.