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Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine shortly after it was announced that the US would allow Ukraine to use western made long-range missiles.
One strike on a nine-story building in the city of Sumy, northern Ukraine, killed eight people and wounded dozens.
Rescuers were working across Ukraine, checking every apartment in search of people who could remain in damaged buildings.
A map has shown just how many drones and missiles Russia launched – ranging from ballistic rockets to combat drones.
Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, said: ‘Every life destroyed by Russia is a big tragedy.’
The attack targeted much of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, striking areas across the country – but has also devastated residential buildings.
It comes as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity ahead of the winter.
What missiles did Russia launch in their latest onslaught?
X-101/55CM
X-101 air cruise missiles re-entered the Russian service in the 2010s, despite being designed in the 1990s. It has an operational range of 3,500km and can reach speeds of up to 950km/hour.
UCAV (unmanned combat aerial vehicle)
Russia has a variety of UCAVs, also known as combat drones.
Kalibr/Ballistic Rockets
It’s unclear which ballistic rockets Russia used, but their Kalibr missiles are strategic cruise missiles which have a range of 2,600km.
X-22
The Russian X-22 anti-ship cruise missile was first designed in the Soviet Union, which has a range of roughly 1,000km.
X-59/69
This is yet another Russian cruise missile with a two-ton propulsion system. It has a range of 200km.
It also came the very same day President Joe Biden authorised the use of US-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike inside Russia for the first time, after extensive lobbying by Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine.
Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian defence forces shot down 144 out of a total of 210 air targets, Ukraine’s air force reported.
Two more people were killed in the Odesa region, where the attack damaged energy infrastructure and disrupted power and water supplies, said local governor Oleh Kiper.
The combined drone and missile attack was the most powerful in three months, according to Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration.
Vladimir Putin told a state TV reporter in September that allowing Ukraine to use the long-distance missiles meant that ‘Nato countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia.’
He added: ‘If that’s the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face.’
Though the chance of Russia retaliating directly against the West for allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles is low, it’s still a possibility.
The question of Europe’s preparedness for such a retaliation – which has been threatened by Putin multiple times in the past – is a different story.
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