Russia strikes residences in Kyiv in large missile attack on Ukraine cities

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Iryna Karetnykova and her partner Viktor Tyschenko were in the building when it was struck by a Russian missile in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday. / NPR

Updated January 2, 2024 at 12:03 PM ET

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched another large missile and drone attack on Ukraine's two largest cities on Tuesday, killing five people and injuring 127, Ukrainian emergency services said.

Strikes on Ukraine's capital of Kyiv hit residential buildings, a supermarket and gas infrastructure, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

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Firefighters and emergency service workers work the scene at a residential building in Kyiv that was damaged in a Russian missile strike on Tuesday. / NPR

Kyiv resident Viktor Tyschenko, 75, says he heard "five or six explosions — and then boom! We thought our lives were over."

The apartment complex where he and his partner live had been hit and caught fire. Their sixth-floor flat was quickly destroyed.

"There was so much smoke," his partner, 76-year-old Iryna Karetnykova, says. "I was yelling, 'Save us! Save us!' — hoping someone would hear." Rescue workers came with a crane and helped the couple escape.

Her face and hands still covered in soot, she says, "We don't have anything anymore. We are homeless now."

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country's military shot down 70 of almost 100 Russian missiles, most of them over the capital of Kyiv. / NPR

Two of the fatalities and 45 injured were in the apartment building, according to Kyiv's mayor.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country's defenses shot down 70 of nearly 100 missiles across Ukraine, most of them over Kyiv. The northeastern city of Kharkiv was also "hit hard," he said on his Telegram social media channel.

"The enemy launched dozens of attack drones, cruise and aerial ballistic missiles at Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kropyvnytskyi and other settlements," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces, said on X, formerly Twitter, the military was able to shoot down 10 of Russia's advanced Kinzhal missiles with the help of Patriot systems.

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Firefighters help a woman climb out of the building after she went inside to search for her cat, following the missile strike. / NPR

This follows a holiday weekend of Russia's aerial assaults on Ukraine, with a major attack on cities across Ukraine including Lviv, Odesa and Khmelnytskyi.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate against Ukraine after a western Russian city was struck by a deadly drone attack, The Associated Press reported, quoting Putin as saying, "We will intensify strikes."

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