Russia hits Ukraine with new missile barrage as cold sets in

Ukraine said at least four people were killed in the second large-scale barrage launched by Russia this year as temperatures in the embattled country dropped below freezing.

After months of relatively few air strikes, Russia ramped up its bombardment campaign just before the New Year, firing hundreds of missiles at cities across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv. Moscow’s forces likely used missiles provided by North Korea in the previous assaults, the U.S. said last week.

Ukrainian Air Force command said Monday that Russian warplanes had fired Kinzhal hypersonic and cruise missiles at targets across the nation. There were explosions in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, northeastern city of Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine and in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to local authorities.

The attacks left at least another 38 people wounded, with homes and civilian infrastructure hit in the Kryvyi Rih region, the most affected, the nation’s police said on Telegram.

Kremlin forces also launched a drone attack at the southern Odesa region late last night, according to Oleh Kiper, the local governor.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram that it had fired Kinzhal missiles against Ukrainian defense-industry facilities.

While there were no immediate reports of energy disruptions from Monday’s attacks, the freeze has strained the grid. Temperatures fell to between -11C (12.2F) in western Ukraine to as low as -18C in the east.

Due to extreme weather conditions 15,000 households lost power and trolleybuses and trams weren’t running in Kryvyi Rih, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the local military administration. Almost 400 locations across Ukraine have no electricity, the Energy Ministry said.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine had downed eight drones and 18 missiles out of the 59 launched at different regions overnight. The attacks targeted critical infrastructure, civilian facilities, as well as the industrial and military sectors, he said on Telegram.

A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, Yuriy Ihnat, said only Patriot air systems are able to shoot down the ballistic missiles.

Ukraine itself has been targeting bases in occupied Crimea, with the air force saying Saturday that it destroyed a Russian command post at the Saky air base in the west of the peninsula Crimea. The claim couldn’t be independently verified. Russian authorities also reported continued shelling of Belgorod, one of the bigger cities close to Ukraine.