By Kontur and AFP | 2024-08-27

KYIV -- Ukraine's air force on August 27 said it beat back a "massive" Russian assault over the past two days that sent residents into hiding and caused widespread blackouts.

Russia fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine that killed and wounded dozens of civilians, authorities said.

Three were killed in southeastern Zaporizhzhia province and two in Kryvyi Rih city after a missile struck a hotel.

Two more were missing in Kryvyi Rih, "likely under the rubble," provincial governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.

The overnight barrage came a day after the Kremlin launched one of its largest-ever aerial attacks on Ukraine, which targeted energy facilities and killed several people.

The air force said it downed half of the 10 missiles and 60 of the 81 Iranian-designed attack drones launched from several regions of Russia and from occupied Crimea.

"Unfortunately, despite the effective work of our air defense systems, four people were killed and 16 were wounded," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on social media.

He said rescue work was ongoing at the impact sites and vowed a response to the attacks.

"Crimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity," he said.

'Massive attack'

Four other people were killed and over 20 wounded August 26 after Russia fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine, battering the country's already weakened energy grid, officials said.

Two others were killed in later strikes during the day, according to authorities.

Zelenskyy said Moscow launched at least 127 missiles and 109 drones in "one of the largest Russian attacks."

Of those, 102 missiles and 99 drones were shot down, according to Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk, who described it as Russia's "most massive" attack.

The United States and Britain both condemned the assault, with US President Joe Biden calling it "outrageous" and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy branding it "cowardly."

Germany's Federal Foreign Office said that "once again, [President Vladimir] Putin's Russia is saturating Ukraine's lifelines with missiles."

The attacks triggered widespread blackouts and came after Kyiv claimed new advances in its incursion in Kursk province, Russia.

Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said August 27 that Kyiv's forces now control 1,294 square km and 100 settlements in Kursk province.

Syrskyi added that Ukraine is holding 594 Russian soldiers as prisoners of war during the three-week-long incursion.

'Very scary'

State-owned electricity supplier Ukrenergo announced emergency power cuts to stabilize its system following the barrage, while train schedules were disrupted.

Residents of Kyiv rushed to take shelter in subway stations early August 26, as AFP reporters heard the booms of what appeared to be air defenses.

"We are always worried. We have been under stress for almost three years now," said Yulia Voloshyna, a 34-year-old lawyer taking refuge in the Kyiv subway.

"It was very scary, to be honest. You don't know what to expect," she said.

Since invading in February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing strikes on energy facilities.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed it hit energy facilities, claiming that they were being used to aid Ukraine's "military-production complex."

European allies

Zelenskyy called on European allies to further help down Russian drones and missiles over Ukraine.

"In our various provinces of Ukraine, we could do much more to protect lives if the aviation of our European neighbors worked together with our F-16s and together with our air defense," he said in an address.

In May, six NATO countries that border Russia -- Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland and Norway -- agreed to erect a "drone wall" to protect their borders in response to Russian provocations.

NATO member Poland said its airspace was violated during the August 26 barrage, probably by a drone.

"We are probably dealing with the entry of an object on Polish territory. The object was confirmed by at least three radiolocation stations," Gen. Maciej Klisz, operational commander of the armed forces, told reporters.

Army command spokesman Jacek Goryszewski said it was "highly likely that it could have been a Shahed-type drone" of Iranian design, used by the Russian military.

"But this has to be verified," he told AFP, adding that it could not be ruled out that the drone had already left Polish territory.

"There was full readiness to neutralize this object," he added.