Russia intensifies missile attacks on Kyiv as Putin promises to ramp up fighting in Ukraine
Russia has intensified its bombing campaign, with heavy missile attacks killing four people and injuring dozens in Ukraine's two largest cities.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel that four civilians were killed and 92 injured in the capital, Kyiv, and in Kharkiv.
The attacks created a desolate morning scene in the capital, with most cafes and restaurants remaining closed.
Air raid sirens blared for nearly four hours, and the city’s subway stations - which function as shelters - were crowded with people.
The barrage of the cities continued Russia's escalated attacks on Ukraine in recent days that began on Friday with its largest single attack on Ukraine since the war started, in which at least 41 civilians were killed.
The following day, shelling of the Russian border city of Belgorod that Russian officials blamed on Ukraine killed more than two dozen people. Russia has struck back repeatedly since.
The attack on Belgorod was one of the deadliest to take place on Russian soil since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.
Russian officials said the death toll stood at 25 as of Monday, including five children.
Cities across western Russia regularly have come under drone attacks since May, although Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for strikes on Russian territory or the Crimean Peninsula.
"They want to intimidate us and create uncertainty within our country. We will intensify strikes. Not a single crime against our civilian population will go unpunished,” President Vladimir Putin said, describing the barrage of Belgorod as a “terrorist act.”
While vowing retribution, he insisted Russia would only target military infrastructure in Ukraine.
However, Ukraine reports civilian casualties from daily Russian attacks, which have hit apartment buildings, shopping centers and residential areas in small communities.
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