Russia has launched fresh waves of missile and drone attacks targeting scores of Ukrainian regions and killing at least four people, Ukraine's military says, a day after Moscow's biggest air attack of the war.
Two people were killed when a hotel was "wiped out" in the central Ukraine city of Kryvyi Rih, regional officials said. Two died in drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia, east of Kryvyi Rih.
Kyiv region's air defence systems were deployed several times overnight to repel missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, the region's military administration said on Telegram.
Reuters' witnesses reported at least three rounds of explosions overnight in Kyiv.
On Monday, Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones, killing at least seven and damaging energy infrastructure in an attack condemned by US President Joe Biden as "outrageous."
Analysts at the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War, said in their note that Moscow "likely lacks the defence-industrial capacity to sustain such massive strikes at a similar scale with regularity."
Several Russian military bloggers, such as the pro-war collective under the name of Rybar, called the Moscow attacks an "act of retaliation" for Ukraine's surprising incursion into Russia's territory - the first such action since World War II.
The Kremlin said on Monday there will be a response to Ukraine's action in Kursk, but three weeks into the incursion, Kyiv claims further advances. Moscow says it keeps pummelling Ukraine troops there - but is still unable to push them out.
The size of the Tuesday attacks and their full impact was not immediately known, but Ukraine's air force said it recorded the launch of several groups of drones and the take-off from Russian airfields of strategic Tu-85 strategic bombers and MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
The Kremlin denies targeting civilians in the war that President Vladimir Putin launched against Russia's smaller neighbour with a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Russian defence ministry said its strikes on Monday hit "all designated targets" in Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure.
Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 200 missiles and drones, killing seven people and striking several energy facilities, officials in Kyiv say as the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog prepares to visit the Kursk nuclear power plant in western Russia
Power cuts and water supply outages were reported in many areas of Ukraine, including parts of Kyiv, as officials said the attack targeted power or other critical infrastructure across the country.
Russia stepped up its strikes on the Ukrainian power grid in March in what Ukraine has said looked like a concerted effort to degrade the system ahead of next winter when people need electricity and heating most.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there was "a lot of damage in the energy sector".
Russia's defence ministry said its forces used high precision weapons to strike important energy infrastructure in Ukraine which it said supported the military-industrial complex.
It listed power substations, gas compressor stations and storage sites for aircraft weapons.
International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi said he will lead a team visiting the the Kursk nuclear power plant in western Russia on Tuesday.
The facility is about 30km away from the fighting that erupted nearly three weeks ago when Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russian territory.
"Given the serious situation, I am personally leading the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in the Russian Federation," Rafael Grossi said in a statement.
"The safety and security of all nuclear power plants is of central and fundamental concern to the IAEA."
The nuclear power plant is located on the Seym river near the town of Kurchatov.
Last week, Russia told the IAEA that a drone had been intercepted near the plant.
Agencies
