Russia fires four hypersonic missiles and dozens of drones at Ukraine

dpa
(TNS)

Kiev — The Russian Air Force fired four Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missiles at Ukraine on Thursday morning, after sending dozens of combat drones overnight, Ukrainian officials said.

The missiles’ target was the city of Starokostyantyniv in the Khmelnytskyi region of western Ukraine. There is a military airfield there where F-16 fighter jets supplied by Western allies are reportedly stationed. There was no immediate information as to whether the missiles hit their targets.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that of the 78 detected Russian drones, 66 were shot down. About 10 Russian combat drones were shot down over the Ukrainian capital Kiev during the night. Additionally, four guided missiles were intercepted, the air force said.

Falling debris from the destroyed drones damaged cars and started fires, but these were extinguished, the Ukrainian civil defence department said, adding that the air raid in Kiev lasted five and a half hours.

In the regions of Mykolaiv and Ivano-Frankivsk, energy facilities were hit, causing partial power outages, it said.

Meanwhile thousands of kilometres away in New York, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “nuclear blackmail.”

“Russia has nothing left but nuclear blackmail; it has no other instruments to intimidate the world,” Andriy Yermak, head of the president’s office, wrote on Telegram on Wednesday evening. The attempted scare will not work, however, he wrote.

Earlier, Putin had outlined new possible scenarios for the use of Russian nuclear weapons, which can now be used in a counterstrike even in the event of massive attacks with conventional weapons, should Russia’s existence be threatened as a result.

Kiev is lobbying Washington for the release of long-range missiles to target Russian territory. In addition, the Ukrainian army has been occupying Russian territory in the border area of Kursk since an advance in early August.

Ukraine has been fighting against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two and a half years with Western support.

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