Massive Russian attack on cities across Ukraine kills at least 13 people

Dozens were also injured, including several children, after the overnight air strikes hit apartment blocks, with emergency crews racing to find people feared trapped beneath rubble in Kyiv. Air raid warnings were in place across most of Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday. Russia's defence ministry said the strikes had been a response to previous Ukrainian attacks, saying in a statement that the "strike objectives" had all been achieved. Moscow last week warned it would launch "systematic strikes" after accusing Kyiv of a deadly attack on a student dormitory in an occupied part of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned a "massive strike" was possible in his nightly video address on Monday, and urged residents to pay special attention to air raid alerts. On Tuesday morning, Zelensky said Russia had launched 656 strike drones and 73 missiles of various types - ballistic, cruise, and anti-ship - in the overnight attack. "We urgently need help from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems", the Ukrainian president said, referring to interception hardware used to intercept Russian missiles. Patriot missiles have been in short supply, exacerbated by the US and Israeli war against Iran. Since coming to power last year, Trump has also stopped direct supplies to Ukraine, so Kyiv's European allies have been buying them from the US before sending them on to Ukraine. Large plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the centre of the capital on Tuesday, where the head of its military administration warned ballistic missiles had been fired and the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to stay in shelters. The buzz of drones could be heard between more than a dozen loud explosions as strikes made impact through the early morning. The attack caused fires near a petrol station, a construction site, and several apartment blocks, as well as two houses, Klitschko said. Blackouts were also been reported across the city. Charred cars and decimated buildings after Russia's overnight attack on KyivElsewhere, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said 10 people including a child were injured in overnight drone and missile strikes on the north-eastern city while an industrial facility was also attacked further south in Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine's air force said Moscow had launched more than 650 drones and 70 missiles overnight, with 642 of the total shot down. Since a brief ceasefire expired in May, Russia has launched several waves of missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, among them strikes on a block of flats that killed 24 people, including three children. Days later, Ukraine responded with an attack on the Moscow region which Russian officials said had killed three people - which Zelensky said was "entirely justified". Ukraine said Russia's threats were "nothing short of shameless blackmail" and urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A British helicopter provided support during the operation on Sunday, the UK ministry of defence says. Russian drones are targeting public buses in Kherson, killing three transport workers so far this year. From enigmatic KGB agent to wartime ruler, this is how Putin has repeatedly reinvented his image, and himself. People have just begun returning to check on their homes in the block that was hit early on Friday morning. 'I will sleep with fear': Romanians shaken after block of flats hit by droneA Russian drone hit a block of flats in Romania on Friday, causing a fire and injuring two people, Romanian officials say.

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Original Source: BBC