The overnight Russian barrage killed 12 people, including an Indian national, and injured dozens more as missiles and drones struck homes and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine
An Indian citizen was among 12 people killed in a Russian missile and drone attack across Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces launched an overnight barrage involving a large number of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles, hitting residential areas and other civilian infrastructure across several Ukrainian regions.
“Overall, 12 people were killed, including an Indian citizen, and dozens more were wounded as a result of the attack,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Kyiv and Boryspil among worst-hit areas
Seven people were killed in Kyiv after a strike hit a railway depot, according to Zelenskyy. Around 350 rescuers were deployed in the capital and the surrounding region to deal with the damage and search for victims.
In Boryspil, a five-storey residential building was damaged and around 50 people were evacuated. Four people were killed and 13 others injured in the city, Zelenskyy said. Several businesses were also damaged.
Russian attacks also hit Odesa and surrounding areas, with glide bombs and drones damaging infrastructure and leaving thousands of families without electricity. Emergency crews were working to restore power.
A border crossing with Romania and export infrastructure were also damaged, while several other regions, including Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk, came under attack.
More from WorldZelenskyy calls for more air defence
Zelenskyy blamed the scale of the casualties on gaps in Ukraine’s air defence system and called for more deliveries of systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
“Russia always calculates its strikes precisely this way, to destroy lives as much as possible, and it succeeds only when air defence resources are insufficient,” he said.
He thanked countries supporting Ukraine through the PURL initiative and bilateral assistance, while urging allies to increase air-defence deliveries in the coming months.
Attack comes after PM Modi-Putin meeting
The latest strikes came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
During their meeting, PM Modi urged Putin to help bring the Ukraine war to an end “for humanity’s sake” and reiterated India’s support for efforts aimed at finding a peaceful solution.