Russia continues to step up assault on Ukraine with massive missile barrage

Russia has escalated its attacks on Ukraine as its invasion enters a third calendar year.

Russia has maintained its recent intensification of air attacks on Ukraine with a huge assault overnight.

Hundreds of missiles and drones struck the capital Kyiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday. The intensified attack on the country’s two largest cities came just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to exact “revenge” for a deadly assault on the Russian city of Belgorod.

However, the strikes follow a trend that has seen Russia escalate its air attacks on Ukraine in recent days. With the front line largely bogged down in trench warfare, Moscow has returned to its tactic from last winter, during which it targeted infrastructure, especially energy and heating, leaving millions of Ukrainians struggling to stay warm.

That has seen a hike in civilian casualties amid numerous strikes on urban areas. The attacks on Kyiv on Tuesday came during peak hour, noted Al Jazeera reporter Assed Baig from the Ukrainian capital.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that four people had been killed and at least 92 injured, noting that Russia had launched about 170 Shahed attack drones and dozens of different missiles at Ukraine since the last day of 2023.