Listen to this articleDear 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated using AI-based technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve results. Russia “hit Ukrainian ports, industrial sites and retail distribution facilities with missiles and drones in an hours-long attack on kyiv and other cities that was partially repelled, Ukrainian officials said Thursday. Commuters went to work in the capital as air defenses boomed by firing at waves of drones after a nighttime bombardment that Ukraine’s military said included an unspecified number of ballistic missiles and 258 drones. “Overnight, Russia carried out a massive attack against Ukraine, targeting ports, grain storage, energy, industry and other infrastructure with ballistic and hypersonic missiles and combat drones,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in Fast moving, they are difficult to intercept, but their shortage of supplies has left Ukraine increasingly vulnerable to Russia’s escalating air war. Russia, which began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, also said it had been attacked overnight, with a drone strike temporarily shutting down a logistics complex run by online retailer Ozon in the city of Ufa, the company said. Ukraine has attacked several Ozon facilities since Saturday in a campaign against e-commerce giants, including online retailer Wildberries, which it says are part of the infrastructure supporting Russia’s war effort. Smoke billows from a kyiv warehouse behind a field of sunflowers on Thursday. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press) Ukraine has won new pledges of support from allies, including Britain, which has said it will allow kyiv to access classified technology to start its own production of Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Moscow warned Thursday that it could attack British military targets inside and outside Ukraine “in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory carried out with British weapons.” Ukrainian flags are seen flying as smoke rises over central kyiv, following a Russian attack on Thursday. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press) In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, one person was killed and two wounded in a lunchtime attack on a shopping center, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. The attacks also targeted a kyiv-area distribution center of major Ukrainian retailer COMFY and destroyed another distribution center of a leading toy company, its chief executives said separately on social media. Leading chocolate company Roshen, founded by former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, also said one of its warehouses outside kyiv was destroyed. The Russian strikes also hit industrial sites, energy facilities and other infrastructure in the central Poltava and southern Odessa regions, as well as the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said. The attacks delayed trains in several regions, leaving passengers stranded for long periods. More support needed for Ukraine, says retired Maj. Gen. West hasn’t given Ukraine enough to win war: Former NORAD commander Retired Maj. Gen. Scott Clancy says Ukraine has been fighting a war of attrition as Western allies give it enough support to keep it in the fight, but not enough to ensure victory. He says Ukraine urgently needs more air defense systems and long-range capabilities as Russia ramps up missile production. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Moscow had attacked steel mills in Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia, an oil refinery in the Poltava region, logistics centers around kyiv and three ports in the Odessa region. Six Russian drones also crossed the airspace of neighboring Moldova, local authorities said, prompting Moldovan President Maia Sandu to “strongly condemn this intimidation.” One of them was found in Moldovan territory.
