The wave of attacks began overnight into Friday and struck nationwide, with blasts reported in the capital Kyiv, as well as at a maternity hospital in the central city of Dnipro, the eastern city of Kharkiv, the southeastern port of Odesa, and the western city of Lviv, far from the frontlines. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since we have seen so many enemy targets on our monitors in all regions and all directions,\u201d Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine\u2019s air force, told national television. \u201cEverything was being fired.\u201d <\/p>\n
Russia used 158 drones and missiles, including hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, cruise missiles and Shahed drones, to strike targets in Kyiv, the east, south and west of the country, Ukraine\u2019s air force said. <\/p>\n
\u201cToday the enemy has struck a powerful blow. There are downed targets, however unfortunately there are also casualties,\u201d Ihnat added. <\/p>\n
At least three people were killed and 28 injured, including 25 hospitalized, in Kyiv after Russia targeted a metro station and residential buildings. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people had been pulled from the rubble of a damaged warehouse in Shevchenkivskyi district, adding that rescue operations were ongoing. <\/p>\n
Kharkiv was hit by a \u201cmassive attack,\u201d Ukrainian Prime Minster Denys Shmyhal said, with more than 20 strikes reported in the region, including on a hospital. At least three people were killed and 11 injured in the strikes, according to regional military administration head Oleh Syniehubov. <\/p>\n
At least four people were killed <\/strong>and 10 people were injured in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, the regional military administration head Yurif Malashko said on Telegram. Emergency workers are still working to see if people are trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings. Malashko said the region had been targeted by 10 missiles, including Kinzhal missiles, of which one was intercepted. <\/p>\n Further south, a school building was hit in Odesa, injuring seven people, including a child. Three people were killed and 22 injured \u2013 including two children and a pregnant woman \u2013 in strikes elsewhere in the region, according to Oleh Kiper, head of Odesa region military administration. At least 18 people were hospitalized. <\/p>\n And in the central city of Dnipro, at least five were killed and more than 20 injured, officials said. <\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Ministry said Russia had targeted \u201cUkrainian women, children, the elderly, and civilians\u201d in the strikes. <\/p>\n \u201cThe crimes that Russia has committed in Ukraine today are its revenge for its inability to turn the tide of the battle in the fight against the Ukrainian defense forces,\u201d it said in a statement. <\/p>\n Without referring directly to Friday\u2019s attacks, the Russian Defense Ministry said its army had \u201ccarried out 50 group strikes and one mass strike with high-precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles\u201d in the period from December 23 to 29, claiming it had only struck military targets. <\/p>\n The massive overnight assault comes just days after Ukraine struck a Russian Navy landing ship in Crimea on Tuesday, causing severe damage to the vessel in another major blow to Moscow\u2019s Black Sea fleet. <\/p>\n But the onslaught also came shortly after Ukraine received the last package of military aid from the United States until Congress approves the Biden administration\u2019s funding request. <\/p>\n Nearly two years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky is facing a largely-stalled counteroffensive while Western aid has begun to dry up. <\/p>\n The head of\u00a0Ukraine\u2019s Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, called for support as his country battles Russian airstrikes. <\/p>\n \u201cA massive terrorist attack, rockets are flying at our cities again, and civilians are being targeted,\u201d Yermak said in a Telegram post on Friday. <\/p>\n \u201cUkraine\u00a0needs support.\u00a0We will be even stronger, we are doing everything to strengthen our air shield. But the world needs to see that we need more support and strength to stop this terror.\u201d <\/p>\n Prime Minister Shmyhal said the attacks \u201ctargeted social and critical infrastructure,\u201d but praised the work of Ukraine\u2019s air force. <\/p>\n \u201cUkrainian air defense forces have once again demonstrated a high level of professionalism. Most of the air targets were shot down.\u00a0We thank the soldiers for saving lives.\u201d <\/p>\n The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, shared a screenshot on X, formerly Twitter, of the numerous air raid warnings sent to Ukrainian phones overnight. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is what Ukrainians see on their phones this morning,\u201d she said. \u201cAs a result, millions of men, women, and children are in bomb shelters as Russia fires missiles across the country. Ukraine needs funding now to continue to fight for freedom from such horror in 2024.\u201d <\/p>\n The Ukrainian Air Force said it recorded \u201cthe departure of 9 Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the \u2018Olenya\u2019 airfield in the Murmansk region of Russia.\u201d <\/p>\n The Tu-95 bomber is a mainstay of Russia\u2019s aerial attacks on Ukraine, able to launch cruise missiles against its neighbor out of the range of most air-defense systems. <\/p>\n In Kyiv, officials warned residents to take shelter as a \u201cUAV threat\u201d was detected in the area, a reference to drones. <\/p>\n Trains were halted as a building was damaged at Lukianivska subway station in central Kyiv, which is also operating as a shelter, Klitschko said. <\/p>\n Many were wounded and a search for victims is underway after a warehouse caught fire in the Podilskyi district of the capital region, the head of Kyiv\u2019s military administration, Serhiy Popko, said in a Telegram post. <\/p>\n In the northeastern city of Sumy, numerous explosions were heard on Thursday evening local time following Russian shelling \u201cof the border territories and settlements,\u201d the administration in the area reported. <\/p>\n A residential building was hit and caught fire, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Telegram Friday. <\/p>\n In Lviv, which borders Poland, at least 15 people were injured, with damage reported in 13 residential buildings and two schools, according to the head of Lviv region military administration Maksym Kozytskyi. <\/p>\n Friday\u2019s widespread strikes followed Russia\u2019s launch of\u00a053 attacks across\u00a0eastern Ukraine on Thursday, according to a Telegram post from the Ukrainian General Staff. <\/p>\n Russia launched dozens of airstrikes, wounding civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure, the post said. <\/p>\n Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he wished the \u201cloud sound of explosions\u201d heard across Ukraine Friday morning \u201ccould be heard all around the world.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIn all major capitals, headquarters, and parliaments, which are currently debating further support for Ukraine. In all newsrooms, which are writing about \u2018fatigue\u2019 or Russia purportedly being ready for \u2018negotiations,\u2019\u201d he wrote on X. <\/p>\n \u201cThese sounds are what Russia really has to say. Our only collective response can and must be continued, robust, and long-term military and financial assistance to Ukraine. Only greater firepower can silence Russian terror.\u201d <\/p>\n\n The wave of attacks began overnight into Friday and struck nationwide, with blasts reported in the capital Kyiv, as well as at a maternity hospital in the central city of Dnipro, the eastern city of Kharkiv, the southeastern port of Odesa, and the western city of Lviv, far from the frontlines. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Bombers in the air<\/h2>\n