Ukraine-Russia war live: Putin launches ‘biggest’ attack on Kyiv in ‘revenge’ for Belgorod strikes

One man was seriously wounded on Tuesday in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod, according to the governor of the region of the same name, adjoining northern Ukraine.

Russia said its air defence systems shot down four “air targets” that had been approaching the city, Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram, not specifying what the targets were.

Emergencies services were inspecting for damage, he added.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed a response after the latest Russian air strike on Ukraine on Tuesday, saying “Russia will answer for every life taken away”.

Zelensky said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app that Russia launched almost a hundred missiles of various types in its latest attack.

“At least 70 missiles were shot down. Almost 60 of them are in the Kyiv region. Kharkiv was also hit hard …”

Russia has launched probably its “biggest attack” on Kyiv and Ukraine “as a whole” since the war broke out, a Ukrainian politician has said.

Ivanna  Klympush, chair of the parliamentary committee on the integration of Ukraine to the EU, said “urgent action” was needed from Ukraine’s allies to provide additional air defence capabilities after Moscow forces unleashed a barrage of strikes on Tuesday.

“It’s probably the biggest attack on Kyiv & UA as a whole since the start of full-scale invasion,” she wrote in a post on X.

In his new year’s message, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine will build at least a million drones, adding: “All of which we will generously use.”

Vladimir Putin took advantage of New Year’s Eve celebrations to round up suspected illegal immigrants and force them to immediately enlist in his war against Ukraine, according to multiple local media reports.

Some 3,000 migrants were detained in St Petersburg alone, as authorities patrolled the streets of Russia’s second largest city carrying out checks purportedly “to prevent crime”, reported the Kremlin’s RIA news agency.

The Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv came under heavy assault in the early hours of Tuesday from a bombardment of Russian missiles and drones, the military administration of the capital said, with at least 10 people injured.

Air defence systems were activated across Ukraine as wave after wave of missiles interrupted Kyiv’s morning rush hour, just hours after Vladimir Putin promised to avenge what Moscow claimed was a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod killing 24 people.

At least 10 people were wounded in a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Overnight Russia launched a series of strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv following an attack on Belgorod which the Kremlin claimed was carried out by Ukraine.

Ukraine’s air force said earlier on Tuesday it had destroyed all 35 attack drones that Russia launched after midnight targeting several cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv.

Russia pounded Kyiv and Kharkiv with missiles on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said, hours after president Vladimir Putin promised to avenge what Moscow said was a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod that killed 24 civilian people.

Russia barraged the Ukrainian capital with waves of missiles during the morning peak hour, cutting off power in parts of the city and sending debris from downed weapons falling across the area.

“Explosions in the capital,” mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, urging people to stay safe.

Ukraine’s air force said earlier on Tuesday it had destroyed all 35 attack drones that Russia launched after midnight targeting several cities in Ukraine, including Kyiv.

The attacks came after Putin said on Monday that Ukraine’s strikes on Belgorod “will not go unpunished.” They kept most of Ukraine under air raid alerts for hours.