Russia has targeted Ukraine with a new wave of deadly strikes, a day after one of its largest air attacks of the war.
At least two people were killed in an attack on a hotel in the central city of Kryvyi Rih and two others died in a wave of drone strikes on the southeastern Zaporizhia region, authorities said.
Ukrainian observers had previously detected Russian aircraft launching hypersonic missiles, and the air force said it had shot down five missiles and 60 drones.
At least six people died on the night from Sunday to Monday and dozens were injured. More than half of Ukraine’s regions were attacked by drones and missiles.
Electrical infrastructure was affected, causing power outages in many towns, and water supplies were also affected.
A Russian Defense Ministry statement said long-range air and sea precision weapons were used to strike power plants and related infrastructure across Ukraine, including in kyiv, Lviv, and the Kharkiv and Odessa regions.
US President Joe Biden called the attacks “outrageous” and said Washington would continue to support Ukraine’s energy grid.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned Russia’s “cowardly missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure.”
In the latest attacks, carried out on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, Russia said it launched 10 missiles and 81 drones.
A hotel was hit by a ballistic missile in Kryvyi Rih on Monday evening, killing a man and a woman and injuring several others. Two people are missing.
Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the same time, the head of the Zaporizhia regional administration Ivan Fedorov said that two people were killed and four others injured in drone strikes.
Explosions were also reported in the kyiv, Sumy, Khmelnitsky and Mykolaiv regions.
Launches of several Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic ballistic missiles, which are difficult for air defenses to intercept, have been detected.
The latest attacks are seen as an attempt by Moscow to reassert its control over the conflict after Ukraine’s recent territorial gains in Russia’s Kursk region.
Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the start of its full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
In recent months, the government has renewed its campaign of attacks on the electricity grid, causing frequent power cuts across the country.
On Monday, Mr Zelensky called on Western allies, including the UK, US and France, to change their rules and let Ukraine use its weapons to strike deeper into Russia.
Ukraine is allowed to use some Western weapons to strike targets in Russia – but not long-range weapons.
Mr Zelensky said “we could do much more to protect lives” if European air forces worked with Ukraine’s air defences.
