One day after the attack on the energy infrastructure, Russia carries out missile and drone attack on Ukraine

Waves of Russian drones and missiles were fired at Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least five people, on the second day of Moscow's intensified air strikes on its war-torn neighbor, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down five cruise missiles and 60 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russian forces in areas including the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the oblasts of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhia, according to a Telegram post translated by Google.

Two people were killed and five others injured in the attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, regional governor Oleksandr Vilkul said in a separate Telegram update translated by Google, and also announced a day of mourning for Wednesday.

Another three people were killed in the offensive in the Zaporizhia region, according to a Google-translated Telegram report by local leader Ivan Fedorov.

CNBC was unable to independently verify developments on the ground.

The latest salvos came a day after Russia launched a “massive” barrage of 236 drones and missiles on “critical Ukrainian infrastructure,” including state-owned fuel and energy facilities, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a Google-translated update on Telegram on Monday, citing commander Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshuk. The armed forces added that they shot down 102 of the missiles and 99 of the drones.

“Like most Russian attacks before it, this one was equally heinous and targeted critical civilian infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his speech on Monday evening.

He added that Ukraine's energy sector had suffered “huge damage,” but assured that “wherever there are power outages, restoration work has already begun. Our repair teams will work around the clock. We will restore electricity. Points of Invincibility will soon be opened in all cities and towns that need it.”

In a Google-translated Telegram post, the Russian Defense Ministry said the country's long-range precision weapons and sea-based weapons were used on Monday against “critical energy infrastructure facilities supporting the operation of Ukraine's military-industrial complex,” and stated that “all intended targets were hit.”

US President Joe Biden, who has tirelessly supported Kyiv since Russia's large-scale invasion in February 2022, railed against Russia's “outrageous attack” on Monday and its targeted attacks on key Ukrainian energy facilities.

“I strongly condemn Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine and its efforts to plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness,” the White House chief of staff said.

The American nonprofit Institute for the Study of War on Monday called Moscow's offensive “one of the largest combined series of drone and missile attacks on key Ukrainian infrastructure to date,” but noted that “Russia probably does not have the military-industrial capacity to carry out such massive attacks on a similar scale on a regular basis.”

Russia and Ukraine have stepped up their air offensives in recent weeks. According to Russian officials, Kyiv carried out one of the largest drone attacks on the Russian capital Moscow last week – a rarer direct target throughout the war.

Since the beginning of August, Ukraine has simultaneously been carrying out a surprise counterattack on Russian territory, particularly in the Kursk region – where a nuclear power plant is located. Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will lead a delegation there on Tuesday to inspect security on site.