Russia's massive air strike on Ukraine enters second day

In the wake of Ukraine's invasion of Kursk, Russia launched a massive airstrike on various regions of Ukraine, killing at least seven people and injuring others. According to Reuters, this is the largest airstrike Russia has launched since the war began in 2022.

According to CNN, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk called it Russia's “most massive attack.”

The Russian Defense Ministry denied that Ukrainian civilians were targeted and described the attacks as “an attack with high-precision weapons,” Reuters reported.

The first attack began Monday morning, with 15 regions targeted with drones, cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles, CNN reported. More attacks followed on Tuesday morning.

“Like most Russian attacks before it, this one was equally heinous and targeted critical civilian infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, according to the Associated Press.

The airstrike came on the same day that the Kremlin publicly raised the possibility of a ceasefire and threatened retaliation for Kursk. “Such hostile actions cannot go unaccepted,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to Reuters.

In response, Ukraine shot down some of the drones and missiles and also launched dozens of drones targeting western Russia.

According to Reuters, Zelensky also called on allies to “consider joint air defense operations and provide long-range defense capabilities.”