Russia launched a widespread missile attack early Thursday on cities across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine denounced Russia’s “criminal and unprovoked aggression” on his country before the United Nations.
The missiles sent civilians rushing to shelters in places ranging from Lviv, on the country’s western edge, to Kharkiv in the northeast. In Kyiv, at least seven people were wounded, fires broke out and a gas pipe was damaged from missile debris, according to the mayor and the regional military administration.
Mr. Zelensky spent two days this week in New York at the United Nations General Assembly appealing for more aid and support against Russia, amid growing concern about Ukraine’s ability to regain territory and the ballooning cost of the war.
On Thursday, Mr. Zelensky was expected to meet with President Biden in Washington to push for ongoing and additional U.S. support for Ukraine as Mr. Biden seeks to push through approval of an additional $24 billion for the country in Congress.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app that the latest attacks meant that the city’s residents had endured more than 1,000 hours, or more than 41 days, of being under air alerts since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that six missiles caused multiple blasts and wounded at least two people. In Cherkasy in central Ukraine, an infrastructure facility was hit in the city center, its mayor said on Facebook.
In Kherson in the country’s south, a Russian attack left two people dead and several others hurt, according to the regional military administration. Officials there did not specify if the deaths resulted from a missile strike.
Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne, reported that explosions were also heard in Rivne, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi in the country’s west.
