47 of 55 Russian missiles fired at Ukrainian cities on Thursday were shot down

The day after the West pledged to supply Ukraine with dozens of modern battle tanks, Russia launched large-scale missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

At least one person was reportedly killed in these strikes.

Ukraine’s military said it shot down all 24 drones used by Russia in the attack overnight, including 15 aimed at hitting the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine’s air defense shot down 47 out of 55 missiles, including at least one Kh-47 Kinzhal hypersonic missile, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny said. Twenty missiles were shot down in the vicinity of Kiev.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said six Tu-95 military jets took off from Murmansk and launched long-range missiles.

Damage was reported in the Vinnytsia region, while Kiev region authorities said drone and missile strikes damaged critical infrastructure and residential buildings. Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was killed and two injured when a rocket hit non-residential buildings in the south of the city.

In Odessa, which was declared “world heritage in danger” by the UN cultural agency, UNESCO on Wednesday, Russian rockets damaged energy infrastructure. This was reported by the city authorities just as French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was visiting there.

The convoy was to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss humanitarian and military aid and possibly the possibility of France joining its NATO allies in supplying Ukraine with tanks. fight.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russia’s main target was energy facilities and the strikes were aimed at depriving Ukrainians of “light and heat” with sub-zero temperatures in Kiev.

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private electricity producer, said it was carrying out emergency power cuts in and around Kiev and in the Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions due to attacks on rocket.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko said Kiev, Odessa and Vinnitsa regions were the most affected by the blackouts.