Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv and its surrounding areas, killing at least four people and wounding more than 60, Ukrainian authorities said. The assault came after Moscow threatened retaliation for Ukrainian strikes in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.

The explosions began just after 1 a.m. on Sunday (22:00 GMT Saturday) following warnings by Ukraine's air force that Russia might launch a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile.

The attack included 600 drones and 90 air-, sea-, and ground-launched missiles, according to Ukraine's air force. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed and jammed 549 drones and 55 missiles, while 19 missiles failed to reach their targets.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people were killed in the capital and 56 wounded. The head of the surrounding Kyiv region reported two additional deaths and nine wounded.

Damage was recorded in 40 locations across several districts of the capital, including residential buildings, said Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko in a Telegram post. “The capital has come under a mass ballistic missile attack,” he stated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used the Oreshnik missile, which is difficult to intercept, in the bombardment. Russian President Vladimir Putin has boasted that the missile is impossible to intercept due to its speed exceeding Mach 10.

Ukrainian authorities and the U.S. embassy had earlier warned of an attack on Kyiv after Russia said it would “punish” those responsible for deadly strikes in a part of eastern Ukraine under its control, which Moscow claimed hit a college dormitory and killed at least 18 people.

The drone salvo launched overnight Thursday into Friday – one of Ukraine's deadliest such strikes in months – also wounded 42 people in Starobilsk in the occupied Luhansk region, trapping people under debris.

Source: www.aljazeera.com