At least one person have died and two others were injured after Russia launched a wave of missiles at Ukraine, a day after Germany and the US pledged tanks to aid Kyiv’s fight against the invasion.
Officials also reported strikes on two energy facilities in the southern region of Odesa. The barrage came as Russia said it perceived the tank offer as “direct” Western involvement in the conflict.
In what was a sustained and wide-ranging attack, the head of the Ukrainian army said Moscow launched 55 air and sea-based missiles.
Valery Zaluzhny added that 47 of them were shot down, including 20 around Kyiv.
Earlier, Ukraine’s air force said it had downed a cluster of Iranian-made attack drones launched by Russian forces from the Sea of Azov in the south of the country.
A 55-year-old man was killed and two others wounded when non-residential buildings in the south of the capital were struck, officials reported.
The offensive was a continuation of Russia’s months-long tactic of targeting Ukraine’s infrastructure. The freezing winter has seen power stations destroyed and millions plunged into darkness.
After the strikes, emergency power cuts were enforced in Kyiv and several other regions to relieve pressure on the electricity grid, said DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer.
