Russia strikes with Kinzhal missiles: hypersonic pressure overwhelms Ukraine
On Saturday, Russia launched an attack using hypersonic ballistic “Kinzhal” missiles targeting facilities of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure.
In its daily report, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated: “In response to terrorist attacks carried out by Ukraine against civilian targets in Russia, Russian forces carried out a massive strike overnight using high-precision weapons launched from land and sea.”
The ministry added that it used “hypersonic ballistic Kinzhal missiles and long-range drones against sites of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and the energy facilities supporting its operations.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed that “the strike achieved its objectives and all designated targets were hit.”
It further reported that “Russian forces continue to destroy formations of Ukrainian armed forces encircled in Dimitrov, while clearing the areas of Svetloye and Grishino in the Donetsk People’s Republic.” Units of the Southern Forces Group reportedly improved their tactical positions and inflicted losses on Ukrainian forces estimated at 190 soldiers.
The statement continued: “The Eastern Forces Group continued its advance toward enemy defensive positions. Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 230 soldiers in a single day.”
The Ministry of Defense also noted that Dnipro Group forces inflicted significant losses on Ukrainian armed forces in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, neutralizing up to 35 soldiers in one day. According to Russian military data, total enemy losses in the Central Forces Group area exceeded 480 Ukrainian soldiers over the past 24 hours.
Impact of the attacks
Following the large-scale Russian assault, the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa and its surrounding areas experienced widespread power outages on Saturday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 450 drones and 30 missiles.
Writing on Telegram, he stated: “The greatest damage from the attack was inflicted on our energy system in the south and in the Odesa region,” adding that thousands of families across seven regions of Ukraine were left without electricity.
Ukraine’s electricity grid operator reported that “a large number” of households were without power in the southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, and that the Ukrainian-controlled part of the frontline Kherson region was completely without electricity.
