Russia launches massive missile attack on Ukraine
Russian launched a broad missile assault on several Ukrainian regions early Sunday morning, November 17. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian strategic bombers Tu-95MS launched cruise missiles around 6:00 AM Kyiv time. Cruise missiles Kalibr were also launched from the Black Sea, with hypersonic missiles Kinzhal fired from MiG-31 aircraft.
During the night, Ukrainian regions witnessed drone strikes, with explosions reported in Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv. Areas like Odessa, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, and Cherkasy region also heard blasts.
In Mykolaiv, a drone strike on a residential building took the lives of two women, and injured four adults and two children, according to Vitaliy Kim, head of the regional military administration, on Telegram.
Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that a residential building in the Pechersk district was set ablaze by debris from a downed drone, injuring a woman who is now hospitalized.
According to Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko, Russia’s massive attack targeted energy facilities across Ukraine, leading to emergency electricity blackouts imposed by the transmission system operator. Blackouts were reported in Kyiv, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk, as well as in Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Khmelnytsky, and Donetsk regions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha described the assault on the nation's energy infrastructure as one of the largest since the war began, calling it "a true response from war criminal Putin to those reaching out to him recently.” He emphasized that peace must be achieved through strength.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Russian forces deployed approximately 120 missiles and 90 drones against Ukraine. Ukrainian air defenses successfully destroyed over 140 aerial targets. He noted the use of various drones, including UAVs "Shahed," along with cruise, ballistic, and aeroballistic missiles such as Zircons, Iskanders, and Kinzhal.
Echoing Galushchenko, Zelensky confirmed that the attacks mainly aimed at the country's energy infrastructure. "Unfortunately, there are damages from hits and falling debris," the president noted on Telegram, adding that all necessary forces are mobilized for recovery efforts.
In response to the cross-border threat, Poland took precautionary measures, scrambling fighter jets as Russia's deadly missiles and drones targeted Ukraine.
"The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces activated all available forces and assets as per current procedures, putting additional fighter pairs on duty, and enhancing the readiness of ground air defense systems and radar reconnaissance," the Polish army's Operational Command announced on social media platform X.