Shocked residents stand outside the building partially destroyed by Russian strikes in the Ukrainian city of Lviv
A Russian ballistic missile and drone barrage across Ukraine overnight killed at least 10 civilians, including children, and injured more than 50 others, officials said Thursday, and Nato scrambled its warplanes after one of the missiles crossed the country’s western border into Poland.The blitz expanded Russia’s almost daily bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including the capital of Kyiv where tens of thousands spent the night sheltering in subway stations, as Moscow apparently looked to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Western-supplied anti-ballistic missile defences.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that North Korean missiles were used in an attack. “In Radushne, the Russians used a missile from North Korea for the first time in a long time – that is what preliminary data shows,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “The alliance of Moscow b******s with the mad regime in North Korea – for missiles, for the North Korean contingent here in Europe, on our borders, and for the killing of our Ukrainian children.”Nato said a Russian missile entered Polish airspace during the onslaught and landed in a rural area. It caused no injuries or damage but could deepen tensions between the military alliance and Moscow, as wary European countries fear the 4-year-old war could spill into their territory. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte called it “yet another reckless act by Russia and a dangerous consequence of its war against Ukraine”.Polish PM Donald Tusk said it was “a very serious incident,” but added: “There are absolutely no reasons to believe that Poland was the target.”Russia’s barrage struck areas of Ukraine where weapons are believed to be stored and manufactured. Ukrainian long-range drones and missiles have battered Russia’s oil sector, causing a fuel crisis.Zelensky said at least 10 Ukrainian regions were attacked, with dozens of homes, businesses and infrastructure facilities damaged. The Russian defence ministry said it targeted Ukrainian air bases, arms factories and military telecommunications and logistics facilities, including drone factories and storage depots. More than 56,000 people sheltered in Kyiv’s subway stations overnight, according to the Facebook post from the metro system.(BY REUTERS)
