KYIV, Ukraine—Russia launched its second significant missile salvo against Ukraine early on Monday, officials said. The attack damaged buildings, killed two people, and injured 40 in the eastern city of Pavlohrad, but missed Kyiv.
Around 3:45 a.m., air raid sirens started to sound throughout the city, followed by explosions as Ukrainian defense systems shot down missiles. According to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 18 cruise missiles were launched from the Murmansk and Caspian areas, and 15 of them were shot down.
Serhii Popko, the chairman of Kyiv's municipal government, said that some drones and all missiles fired against the city had been shot down. He didn't give any further information.
Following the first attack on Kyiv in nearly two months, more than 20 cruise missiles and two explosive drones were launched at Ukraine on Friday.
21 people, including three children, were killed in that strike when Russian missiles struck an apartment complex in Uman, a city located approximately 215 kilometers (135 miles) south of Kiev.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, missiles fired on Monday struck Pavlohrad in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk area, inflicting 40 injuries on top of the two fatalities.
Authorities reported that seven missiles were fired against the city; while "some were intercepted," other missiles impacted an industrial complex and started a fire. Regional officials reported damage to 24 apartment complexes, 89 residences, 6 schools, and 5 stores.
According to Serhii Lysak, the chief official in the region, missiles also struck three additional locations in the Dnipropetrovsk region, causing residential structures and a school to suffer damage.
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian military ministry, stated on Monday that Russia "conducted a group missile strike on facilities of Ukraine's defense industry with long-range precision-guided airborne and seaborne weapons... all designated facilities were struck."
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian official who has been deployed in the seized Zaporizhzhia region, claimed that the strike on Pavlohrad's munitions and fuel stores would hinder Ukraine's intended counteroffensive.
Herman Haluschenko, Ukraine's energy minister, said that the assaults also caused damage to the country's power network infrastructure, which will require several days to fix. He said that in addition to those in the Dnipropetrovsk region, almost 20,000 residents in Kherson and the surrounding area were left without electricity.
Throughout the 14-month conflict, Moscow has launched numerous long-range missile attacks that frequently target civilian areas without warning.
According to Natalia Humeniuk, a military spokesperson for the southern regional, Russian forces are currently concentrating mainly on damaging the logistical channels and command centers of Ukraine's armed forces in anticipation of the country's counteroffensive.
Recent shipments of Patriot missiles developed in the United States strengthen anti-missile defenses while bolstering Ukraine's capacity for the counteroffensive. It was unclear if any of them were involved in attempting to halt the attack on Monday morning. Additionally, Ukraine has been strengthening its mechanized brigades with the aid of armor provided by its Western allies, who have also been supplying ammunition and providing training for Ukrainian soldiers.
Zelenskyy has pledged to recapture the Crimean Peninsula and other seized territories, which Russia illegitimately took from Ukraine in 2014. As a result, the peninsula has been periodically attacked.
At least two Ukrainian drones were reportedly brought down by Russian officials on Monday in Crimea, however it was unclear whether ones had really reached their intended targets. The Black Sea Fleet of Russia is based on the peninsula. Two Ukrainian drones struck a Russian oil station in Crimea on Saturday.
Ukraine refuses to accept responsibility for such assaults.
The heaviest fights in what has become a grinding war of attrition have occurred in the eastern Donetsk area, where Russia is fighting to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of tenacious Ukrainian defense.
Troops from Russia's Wagner mercenary organization and other forces are battling Ukrainian troops house-to-house to take control of the "road of life"—the final remaining road west in Ukrainian hands, crucial for supplies and new troops.
The leader of Ukrainian ground troops, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, claimed Russia was making "maximum effort" to capture the city but had so far failed.
“In some parts of the city, the enemy was counterattacked by our units and left some positions,” he said.
An explosive device derailled a freight train in Russia's Bryansk area, which borders northern Ukraine, according to regional governor Alexander Bogomaz.
There were no clear clues as to who detonated the device, although Bryansk has been subjected to periodic cross-border fire during the war. Two persons were reported slain in March in what Bryansk officials described as an invasion by Ukrainian saboteurs.
