Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, with Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirming the capital was under a ballistic attack shortly after midnight explosions were heard across the city. The bombardment follows warnings from President Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia had received additional ballistic missiles from North Korea and was preparing to host a new contingent of Pyongyang's troops on its soil.
Russian forces are currently capable of launching 77 ballistic missiles simultaneously and plan to raise that figure to 200, according to Ukrainian drone warfare commander Robert Brovdi, who said the threat drove Kyiv's long-range strikes deep into Russia. Since late June, Ukrainian forces have hit railway bridges, fuel depots and power infrastructure while destroying more than 300 Russian air defence elements, Brovdi added. Ukrainian intelligence indicates Moscow has ordered military staffs and security services to withdraw from Crimea along with the quiet evacuation of classified archives and artworks.
Separately, Ukrainian kamikaze drones struck Russia's largest and most modern petrochemical complex, sparking a major fire in one of the world's five biggest such plants in what marked Kyiv's first attack on the city, at a range exceeding 2,000 kilometres. On the political front, the Moscow Supreme Court barred Yabloko, Russia's only anti-war party, from contesting September's State Duma elections.