KYIV: Russia launched a rush-hour barrage of missiles toward Ukraine on Thursday, the day after Kyiv secured Western pledges of dozens of modern battlefield tanks to try to push back the Russian invasion.
\nMoscow had reacted with fury to the German and American announcements, and has in the past responded to apparent Ukrainian successes with air strikes that have left millions without light, heat or water.
\nThe Ukrainian military said it had shot down all 24 drones sent overnight by Russia, including 15 around the capital, with no damage reported.
\nBut soon afterwards, air raid alarms sounded across Ukraine as people were heading to work, and senior officials said air defenses were shooting down incoming missiles.
\nIn the capital, crowds of people took cover in underground metro stations, and a loud explosion was heard.
\nDTEK, Ukraine\u2019s largest private energy producer, said it was conducting emergency power shutdowns in Kyiv, the surrounding region and also the regions of Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk because of the imminent danger.
\nKyiv\u2019s military administration said more than 15 missiles fired at Kyiv had been shot down, but urged people to remain on shelters.
\n\u201cMissiles are flying inside the territory of Ukraine. At least two northwest through Mykolaiv region,\u201d Vitaly Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, said on the Telegram messaging app.
\nAn air force spokesman said impacts had been registered in the central Vinnytsia region.
\nWestern analysts say the attacks on Ukraine\u2019s cities are more an attempt to break morale than a strategic campaign.
\nBoth sides are expected to mount new ground offensives come the spring, and Ukraine has been seeking hundreds of modern tanks in the hope of using them to break Russian defensive lines and recapture occupied territory in the south and east.
\nBoth Ukraine and Russia have so far relied primarily on Soviet-era T-72 tanks.
\n\u201cThe key now is speed and volumes. Speed in training our forces, speed in supplying tanks to Ukraine. The numbers in tank support,\u201d President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Wednesday.
\n\u201cWe have to form such a \u2018tank fist\u2019, such a \u2018fist of freedom\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV: Russia launched a rush-hour barrage of missiles toward Ukraine on Thursday, the day after Kyiv secured Western pledges of dozens of modern battlefield tanks to try to push back the Russian invasion. Moscow had reacted with fury to the German and American announcements, and has in the past responded to apparent Ukrainian successes with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n