Russia Launches Massive Wave Of Missile Strikes Across Ukraine

Russian missile attacks across Ukraine have killed at least eight people and caused widespread damage as Kyiv awaits a vital air defense system delivery from its allies.

Moscow has stepped up its missile and drone strikes across Ukraine in which civilian infrastructure such as energy facilities are common targets.

In the latest incidents, Donetsk Oblast governor Vadym Filashkin said on Saturday there were fatalities after strikes on the town of Selydove and three other villages.

Strikes on the town of Toretsk killed two people and damaged houses, an administrative building and an infrastructure facility, he added.

In the neighboring Kharkiv Oblast, where Russian troops launched an offensive last month, a Russian drone hit a postal vehicle in the town of Vovchansk, killing the woman driver, according to the regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

There were also Russian attacks on energy transmission systems in southern and western Ukraine, including a strike in Zaporizhzhia Oblast which injured two workers, grid operator Ukrenergo wrote on social media.

Another Russian missile attack on an energy facility in Lviv oblast sparked a fire that took 67 firefighters to extinguish by 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

On Thursday, Russian drone attacks damaged energy infrastructure in the regions of Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.

It comes as the Netherlands announced it would provide Kyiv with a Patriot missile defense system as Kyiv steps up its calls for better protection to combat Russia’s continuing missile barrage.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defenses shot down all 13 Shahed-type attack drones and 12 of the 16 missiles launched by Russia overnight.

However, Kyiv is continuing its own strikes on Russian energy targets, according to reports. Ukrainian drones struck three oil refineries in southern Russia overnight Thursday, adding to Kyiv’s previous successes in hitting Moscow’s energy infrastructure in attacks for which Ukraine does not claim direct responsibility for.

An unnamed Ukrainian security service (SBU) official told The Associated Press that its drones struck oil refineries in Afipsky, Ilsky, and Krasnodar in Russia, which all supply fuel for its Black Sea Fleet.

Meanwhile, satellite imagery reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Saturday shows three fuel tanks burning after a Ukrainian drone strike on an oil depot in Russia’s Rostov region on June 18 in a fire that raged for three days.

Ukrainian drones had also hit two oil depots in Russia’s Republic of Adygea and Tambov Oblast on June 20, a Ukrainian defense source told the Kyiv Independent.