Russia's massive missile, drone barrage on Kyiv kills four, including child

Russia pressed its missile and drone barrage of Kyiv and areas around the Ukrainian capital killing four people including a child while mainly targeting the power grid officials said WednesdayMoscows steep escalation of its aerial campaign since the end of August is putting pressure on Ukraine as it braces for winter when Russia regularly bombards energy facilities to deny Ukrainians heat power and running waterThe heavy overnight attack caused power outages and prompted questions about whether it marked the start of Russias anticipated cold weather campaign which Ukrainian officials describe as an attempt to weaponise winterThere has been virtually no day since summer when the enemy did not attack energy infrastructure Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said on Telegram But such a massive and combined attack happened for the first time since the end of the last heating seasonUkrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha noted the increase in Russian strikes has brought days of almost uninterrupted air raid alerts across UkraineRussia is intensifying its terror jetpowered drones during the day ballistic and cruise missiles at night constant attacks against our cities and civilian life Sybiha said on XUkrainian officials say Moscow is not engaging with US efforts to halt the fighting 4frac12 years after Russia invaded its neighbour Moscow says it wants a comprehensive settlement rather than a temporary truce but its demand for Ukraine to surrender land is unacceptable for KyivRussia exploits Ukraines air defence gapsA boy was killed and three other people were rescued from the rubble of a private home in Vyshhorod a city in the wider Kyiv region said Tymur Tkachenko head of the regional military administrationThe attacks also killed three people in the capital and wounded at least four others according to authoritiesRussia fired 2850 jetpropelled drones at Ukraine in August but by Tuesday it had already launched 3177 this month Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat saidRussia has exploited gaps in Ukrainian air defences by firing ballistic missiles and new jetpowered drones both of which are hard to stop Air raid alerts are disrupting daily life sending people running for shelter and denting economic outputThe attacks come in waves Ihnat told Ukrainian television late Tuesday mostly aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region Ukraine needs more missiles for USmade Patriot air defence systems to counter ballistic missiles and for other groundbased air defences he saidThe main Russian targets were energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding region President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media describing it as a difficult attack as Moscow stretches Ukraines air defencesZelenskyy thanked foreign countries supporting Ukraine for recent deliveries of air defense help And the closer we get to winter the more of this protection we need he said We must do everything to ensure that Russias bet on ballistic missile and drone terror does not pay offThe Russian Defence Ministry said its overnight attack hit a hydroelectric and a thermal power plant an electrical substation an energy storage facility and a data centreUkrainian officials didnt specifically confirm those strikes as Kyiv wants to deny Moscow intelligence about the effectiveness of its attacks Authorities reported hits on civilian areas of at least four Kyiv districtsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever