By Andrew E. Kramer and Matthew Mpoke Bigg

KYIV — Russia launched a fresh wave of predawn missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and several other large Ukrainian cities Tuesday (27), the second day of a deadly, far-reaching bombing campaign that comes as Moscow fights to fend off a Ukrainian offensive on Russian soil.

The early-morning barrage hit a hotel in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing four people and wounding several others, according to the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, who posted photographs showing the ruins of the hotel.

Two people were also killed in the city of Zaporizhzhia, according to the head of the regional military administration there, Ivan Fedorov. In Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, debris from downed missiles or drones sparked brush fires in parks, while air alarms were set off throughout most of the country.

Russia has over the past year fired large volleys roughly once a month in attempts to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defence systems with combinations of drones and missiles launched from multiple directions.

The barrage that began Monday (26) comes at a tumultuous time for both sides, just three weeks after Ukraine launched an incursion into the Kursk region of southern Russia.

The commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said Tuesday that Ukraine had taken control of 100 settlements in Kursk. Russian authorities have repeatedly insisted the situation was under control and that its forces were repulsing the attack.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia had promised a decisive response, and his spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, reiterated that message Monday, saying Russia would inflict “an appropriate response.”

It was unclear whether the attacks this week constituted that retaliation, though President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine — who said Monday’s barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles was “one of the largest” his country has faced since Russia’s invasion began 30 months ago — vowed to “pay Russia back” for the strikes.

“Crimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram on Tuesday, adding that at least 16 people had been wounded.

Since the incursion into Russia began, Ukrainian troops have gone beyond Kursk to the neighbouring region of Belgorod. On Tuesday, the regional governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said Ukrainian forces had launched 23 drones and dozens of munitions at towns and villages in the area over the past 24 hours.

He also claimed there were reports of Ukrainian troops trying to break through the border in the region, the Russian state news agency Tass reported, saying the situation remained “difficult but under control,” without elaborating. That claim could not be independently verified and there was no immediate comment from Russia’s Ministry of Defence or from Ukrainian officials.

In Kyiv, a loud explosion echoed in the downtown area around dawn. The city’s military administration said the capital was under a “combined rocket and drone attack of the enemy,” and authorities said falling debris from intercepted missiles or drones had set grass on fire in two city parks.

While Ukraine’s military has not yet said how many missiles and drones it intercepted Tuesday, it said Monday that it had shot down 201 of the 236 missiles and drones launched by Russian forces, a high success rate.

Ukraine relies on Soviet legacy interceptors, which it had in great numbers before the invasion in 2022, and an array of Western-provided air defences. They include long-range Patriots; the midrange NASAMS; and short-range, shoulder-fired Stingers, intended to prevent missiles from slipping through to hit targets.

Ukraine’s relative success in shooting down the incoming fire is in large part a testament to the tens of billions of dollars in military aid the country has received since February from its allies in NATO and, in particular, the United States.

On Monday, President Joe Biden reiterated his “unshakable” support for Ukraine and said his government would continue to lead a coalition of more than 50 nations that have rallied to help the country.

“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Russia’s continued war against Ukraine and its efforts to plunge the Ukrainian people into darkness,” he said, a reference to one of the main targets of Monday’s strikes: energy infrastructure.

The attacks came against the backdrop of grinding battles in eastern Ukraine.

One of Ukraine’s aims with the incursion into the Kursk region was to force the Kremlin to divert troops from the front lines in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, where they have been advancing on the city of Pokrovsk.

But Russia has been pressing on with its offensive in Donetsk. On Monday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would send reinforcements to Pokrovsk in a bid to shore up the beleaguered city’s defence.

Military analysts have for months argued that Ukrainian military resources are already stretched thin, raising questions about whether it can continue attacking inside Russia while maintaining its defences in the east.

-New York Times