Russian missiles and drones strike across Ukraine, killing at least 4

KIEV (Reuters) – Russia fired dozens of missiles and drones across Ukraine for a second day on Tuesday, including some that the Ukrainian president said were shot down by Western-made F-16 fighter jets before they reached their targets.

The attack killed at least five people, destroyed a hotel, homes and apartment buildings, as well as vital infrastructure in multiple Ukrainian regions. Power was cut off in Kyiv and other cities amid the scorching heat.

As they typically do in their statements after Russian airstrikes, the Ukrainian armed forces listed the Russian regions and occupied territories from which the weapons were fired. President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior officials have repeatedly called on the United States to lift restrictions and allow Ukraine to launch attacks deep inside Russia to hit military infrastructure responsible for the war.

“Allies are trying not to talk to me about this. But I keep raising this topic. In general, that’s all. The Olympics are over, but table tennis continues,” Zelensky said.

In his comments on Ukraine’s first apparent use of F-16s to shoot down a missile, Zelensky thanked Ukraine’s supporters for it, but said they were too few in number, and too few pilots trained to fly them.

Among the Russian regions listed as the source of Tuesday’s attack was Kursk, where Ukraine’s military commander said his forces had seized nearly 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) since their surprise incursion three weeks ago. That’s roughly the size of Los Angeles.

General Oleksandr Syrsky said Ukraine had captured 594 Russian prisoners in the operation, which he said was aimed at drawing the Russian military away from the fighting in Ukraine. His claims could not be independently verified.

The Kursk operation, Russia’s largest incursion into Ukraine since World War II, has forced some 130,000 people to evacuate their homes. Russia has sent reinforcements to the region, but it is unclear how much these moves will weaken Russia’s position on Ukrainian territory.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who visited the Kursk nuclear power plant on Tuesday, said the fighting in the area had raised concerns about the risks posed to it. He said in a post on his X website that the situation was “dangerous” and described any attack on a nuclear plant as unacceptable.

“There is now a risk of a nuclear accident here. Today I have been informed of several cases of drone attacks on the area and on the plant’s facilities. At the plant I saw the traces of these attacks,” Grossi said.

But the plant is now operating “very close to normal,” he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday that Ukraine had suffered heavy losses at Kursk — about 6,600 soldiers killed or wounded — and that more than 70 tanks had been destroyed along with dozens of armored vehicles. The figures could not be independently verified.

The Ukrainian army chief of staff’s announcement of control over the territory came hours after the country was subjected to a second series of night-time air and missile attacks from Russia.

Five people were reported killed and 16 others injured in the attacks, which Zelensky said involved 81 drones as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

In the Kyiv region, which suffered power outages after Monday’s attack on energy facilities across the country, five weather alerts were issued overnight. The regional administration said air defenses had destroyed all drones and missiles but falling debris had sparked forest fires.

After more than 100 missiles and a similar number of drones were fired across Ukraine on Monday, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said “energy infrastructure has once again become a target for Russian terrorists” and urged Ukraine’s allies to supply it with fuel. Long range weapons And permission to use it on Targets inside Russia.

President Joe Biden called the Russian attack on energy infrastructure on Monday “outrageous” and said he was “reprioritizing U.S. air defense exports so that they go to Ukraine first.” He also said the United States was “sending energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said the attacks used “long-range precision-guided weapons from the air, from the sea and from drones against vital energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. All designated targets were hit.”

Russian officials said four Ukrainian missiles were shot down over the Kursk region.