Russia Bombards Ukrainian Cities After Putin's Vow for Revenge

Ukrainian officials reported that Russia launched missile strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv on Tuesday, hours after President Vladimir Putin pledged to retaliate for what Moscow claimed was a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod that resulted in the deaths of 24 civilians. Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital with missiles during the morning rush hour, causing power outages across parts of the city and debris from intercepted missiles falling in various areas. Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko reported "explosions in the capital" via Telegram and urged residents to take shelter. Earlier on Tuesday, the Ukrainian air force stated that it had destroyed all 35 drones launched by Russia after midnight, which targeted several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv. These attacks followed Putin's vow on Monday that the Ukrainian strikes on Belgorod "would not go unpunished," which put much of Ukraine under air raid alerts for hours. The full extent of the Russian missile attack remains unclear, but Klitschko noted that ten people were injured in Kyiv. This attack follows the largest Russian airstrike on Ukraine on Friday, which resulted in at least 39 deaths. Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, reported that the city also faced a "heavy missile attack." Russia claimed that Ukraine launched its attack on Belgorod from the Kharkiv region.