Ukrainian authorities issued widespread air raid alerts on Monday after a series of Russian airstrikes killed at least six people in the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia.
The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed in a post on Telegram that Russian bombers were airborne, stating, “Attention! Missile danger throughout Ukraine! MiG-31K takeoff,” as reported by AP.
The attacks, which began early on Monday, left five dead in Mykolaiv, where several residential buildings were set ablaze.
“Five dead,” Mykolaiv Governor Vitaly Kim said early on Monday on Telegram. A sixth victim died in Zaporizhzhia after three Russian airstrikes hit the city, injuring more than a dozen others, including five children.
The wounded ranged in age from 4 to 17, with local officials reporting that they had all received medical treatment.
The strikes came a day after a record overnight drone assault by Russia, which launched 145 drones targeting Ukrainian cities, the largest such attack since the conflict began.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the unprecedented scale of the attack, which marked a sharp escalation in Russia’s use of drone warfare.
In response, Russia claimed to have shot down 34 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow, the most significant attempted strike on the Russian capital since the war’s outset in 2022.
