Russia launched multiple waves of cruise missile attacks on Ukraine in the early hours of Sept. 21 in what was possibly the most massive missile assault on the country by Kremlin forces in recent months.
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Explosions and air raid alarms wailed across all regions of Ukraine. In Kyiv alone, there were reports of falling missile debris in around 20 locations, resulting in two casualties. Other regions also experienced missile impacts and reported casualties, reads a post by local law enforcement on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Air Force said in its morning report that Russia had fired 43 cruise missiles at Ukraine from 10 Tu-95MS strategic bombers from a launch line above Engels, in Russia’s Saratov Oblast, well to the east of Ukraine. The air force said 36 of the missiles had been shot down.
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Residents of Kyiv were awoken at 4.26 a.m. by the sound of air raid sirens. After about 30 minutes, the sound of air defenses being activated could be heard, followed by explosions audible across the entire Ukrainian capital.
That air raid lasted 2 hours and 14 minutes. A second air alert followed in the capital at 7.15 a.m. It lasted for 48 minutes.
The Office of the Prosecutor General said that as a result of the raids there had been damage to private residences of civilian residents, economic structures, vehicles, and a hospital building in several districts of Kyiv Oblast. Some missile fragments also ignited a fire on a company’s premises. The Prosecutor General’s Office underscored that none of the damaged objects were military targets.
Law enforcement agencies are currently inspecting the locations affected and assisting citizens in coping with the aftermath of the attack.
In the city of Kyiv, seven individuals were injured as a result of the attack, with debris falling in various districts of the capital. The districts of the city affected included Holosiivskyi (windows of a five-story building damaged), Shevchenkivskyi (debris fragments damaged a gas pipeline), Desnianskyi, and Sviatoshynskyi (electricity supply interruptions).
The Darnytskyi district sustained the most damage, with non-residential premises, parked vehicles, and a vocational school dormitory being hit by missile fragments. An auto repair shop also caught fire.
Preliminary information indicates that Kyiv was targeted by cruise missiles of the Kh-101/555/55 type.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko later confirmed that seven people had been injured in the attack, including a nine-year-old girl, with four others receiving on-site medical assistance.
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Elsewhere, fragments of shot-down Russian missiles also damaged a hotel in the center of Cherkasy, resulting in ten reported injuries. In Drohobych, Lviv Oblast, three Russian missiles struck, causing fires in a workshop and warehouses.
Later, Russia targeted Kharkiv six times with S-300 air defenses missiles fired in ballistic, ground-attack mode, resulting in two injuries.
Russian invasion forces also shelled a dormitory in Kherson, leading to three deaths and five injuries.
Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, commenting on the massive missile strike on Sept. 21, described it as powerful, but noted that Ukraine’s air defense system had performed reasonably well.
“The enemy attacked with a significant geographic scope,” Ihnat said on Ukrainian national television, adding that the enemy employed various tactical techniques, direction changes, and various types of weaponry.
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“We observed missiles moving from east to west and returning to central regions. This time, missiles reached many regions, but our air defense system responded quite effectively,” Ihnat said.
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