Russia uses 200 missiles and drones to respond to Ukrainian counteroffensive

Russia responded on Monday morning (26) to the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk by launching the largest air strike against Ukraine since the start of the war on February 24, 2022. The “massive” attack with more than 200 drones and missiles were directed at 15 regions of the country, including the capital Kiev.

Explosions rocked major cities, sending thousands of people into shelters and wreaking havoc on energy infrastructure including a hydroelectric plant, repeating a pattern seen since the start of the war.

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged carrying out a “massive strike using long-range and high-precision weapons” against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. It said it had hit all its targets. The strikes came a day after a series of offensives in the eastern city of Kramatorsk.

“This morning, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive strike using long-range precision weapons launched from air and sea and attacked unmanned aerial vehicles on critical energy infrastructure of the Ukrainian military-industrial sector. All designated targets were destroyed,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Ukrainian government said the offensive hit the Kharkiv, Kiev and Odessa regions. It said at least five people were killed and 11 wounded. The raids come as Ukraine claims fresh gains in a major cross-border incursion into the Kursk region in southern Russia.

“It was one of the largest combined strikes. More than a hundred missiles of various types and about a hundred Shahed drones. And like most previous Russian strikes, this one was also stealthy, targeting critical civilian infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

The Kremlin has been signaling in statements that it would respond forcefully to the invasion, the first carried out by foreign forces since World War II: hours before the drones and missiles hit their targets, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said, referring to the situation in Kursk, that “such hostile actions could not be left without an appropriate response,” and that “there would definitely be a response.”

While Kiev’s Western allies have supplied Ukraine with large amounts of military equipment, they have imposed conditions on how it can be used. They have banned the use of the weapons to attack missile and drone launch sites inside Russia, meaning Kiev relies primarily on its air defenses to counter attacks from Moscow. After Monday’s attacks, Ukrainian officials again called for the restrictions to be lifted.