Editor's note: This is a developing story, and the news article is being updated.
Russian troops unleashed multiple cruise and ballistic missiles at Ukraine early on Jan. 8, killing four people and wounding over 30, Ukrainian authorities reported.
Russia launched a total of 59 missiles and drones at Ukraine overnight and in the morning, the Air Force wrote. Ukraine's air defenses reportedly shot down 18 cruise missiles of the types Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 and eight drones Shahed-136/131.
Apart from cruise missiles, Russian forces also used air-launched, ballistic, and anti-aircraft guided missiles, according to the Air Force. Not all the Russian missiles that were not downed eventually managed to reach their targets, the Ukrainian military added.
Casualties and damages to civilian infrastructure were reported in Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv oblasts.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that Russia's attack damaged an enterprise, an educational institution in Kharkiv, and a house in the city of Zmiiv.
According to the latest updates by Syniehubov and a Presidential Office deputy head, Oleksii Kuleba, a woman was killed, and four more people were injured in Kharkiv and Zmiiv.
At least six explosions were heard in Ukraine's western Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the regional governor Serhii Tiurin said on Facebook. Local air defenses shot down two missiles over the region, but some others hit infrastructure facilities, according to Tiurin.
Two people are known to have been killed in the attack on Khmelnytskyi Oblast as of 10:43 a.m., the governor said.
Russian forces struck Kryvyi Rih and Novomoskovsk in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing a woman and wounding 31 other people, including four children, the regional governor Serhii Lysak reported.
Alexander Query
A shopping mall, more than 20 houses, three administrative buildings, two gas stations, a five-story building, and a car were damaged in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, according to Lysak.
The city of Zaporizhzhia was hit with five missiles, according to Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Yurii Malashko, who said that the missiles hit a residential area.
As of 10:30 a.m. local time, five people are known to have been wounded in the attack on Zaporizhzhia, but the number might increase as more information comes in, said Malashko.
Earlier, the Air Force warned that Russian Su-35 bomber aircraft were operating just north of the border with Russia and urged residents to take missile threats seriously.
At least 13 heavy bomber aircraft took off from an airfield in Murmansk Oblast in Russia. Mig-31k aircraft were also reported to have taken off from Savasleyka in the Nizhny Novgorod area in Russia.
Russia has recently intensified its attacks against Ukraine's cities and critical infrastructure as the temperatures dropped, echoing its strategy from last year.
Russian forces unleashed a large-scale air attack on Ukraine early on Jan. 2, targeting Kyiv, the surrounding region, and Kharkiv, killing six people and wounding at least 130.
Moscow launched on Dec. 29 the largest air attack against Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Over 50 people were killed and 160 more wounded nationwide.
Some 30 people were injured in the capital alone, making the deadliest attack on civilians in Kyiv since Russia began its all-out war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Igor Kossov
