Missile Barrage Shows Russia’s Doubt That Ukraine Can Defend Itself
Moscow is taking advantage of Ukraine’s depleted stock of interceptors and is intensifying attacks, worsening the civilian death toll. For much of the war, Russia’s air assaults followed a battle-tested formula : first, waves of drones to saturate and tie up air defenses; then, once a path was cleared, a salvo of highly destructive missiles. But as Ukraine now struggles with severe air defense shortages , Russia is going straight for the missiles. Overnight on Thursday, it opened a deadly air assault with a volley of ballistic missiles that resulted in several explosions across Kyiv, the capital, suggesting that some had hit their targets. The change in tactics is a sign that the Russian military is growing more confident of penetrating Ukrainian defenses, after weeks of attacks that have depleted Ukraine’s stocks of interceptors .
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At least 15 people were killed and about 40 injured in strikes that also damaged 30 residential buildings, a school and a children’s hospital, according to Ukrainian officials. The thundering reverberated down to a subway station where some of the city’s three million residents had taken shelter, pitching tents and laying mats on the granite platform.
