Russian missiles hit Ukrainian cities over air defense fears

Russia launched a combination of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities on Tuesday in a large salvo that killed at least five people and injured another 63, including children, according to local and military authorities. The attack has heightened concerns about the state of Ukraine's air defenses as Russian shelling continues on major cities.

Ukraine's air force said 41 missiles entered the country's airspace early Tuesday. Ukrainian authorities are providing details of cruise missiles in flight, and residents can track them for about an hour as they fly from Russia. The ballistic missiles, which travel much faster, struck Kiev on Tuesday just as the cruise missiles arrived.

Yuriy Ihnat, an air force spokesman, said in a telephone interview that the army had intercepted only about half of the total barrage, and only five of 24 ballistic missiles.

“Most of the missiles were ballistic, and our air force cannot shoot them all down,” Mr. Ihnat said.

In Kiev, the capital, at least one missile appeared to explode at ground level, residents said, although it was unclear whether it had evaded Ukrainian air defenses or if the warhead fell and exploded after the missile was destroyed in midair.

Concerns have been growing in Ukraine that air defense ammunition is running out as further military aid from the United States remains stuck in Congress. Mr. Ihnat said the air force did not run out of ammunition during Tuesday's attack, but Ukraine still needed regular supplies.

He also said that not all of the missiles that evaded Ukrainian defenses had hit their targets. “Many of them simply fell into the field, because the quality of Russian missiles has decreased,” he said.

One explosion of falling debris or a rocket sounded in the government district in central Kiev, near the presidential office and parliament. It was the first damage from a rocket attack in the district since October 2022.

Residents of the capital woke up around 6 a.m. to an air raid siren, followed by explosions and the rattle of machine guns firing at cruise missiles. Five neighborhoods in Kiev were hit by rockets or falling debris, according to the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko. The police put red tape around the strike locations and emergency workers cleared stones and broken glass from the streets.

In the city's Sviatoshynsky district, an elderly man stood on the street, shaking and crying, after seeing injured children being evacuated from a strike site. “Their whole bodies were connected,” said the man, who declined to give his name. He struggled to say anything else.

In one neighborhood, cars caught fire in a street. Mr Klitschko wrote on the social messaging app Telegram that a warhead from an intercepted missile landed in a resident's kitchen but did not explode.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, rockets killed two people and injured at least 38, the mayor, Ihor Terekhov, wrote on Telegram.

The Ukrainian army said its soldiers shot down one cruise missile with a machine gun, a rare feat. Normally, fighter jets or ground-based anti-aircraft missiles are needed to intercept cruise missiles.

Across Ukraine, thousands of people sought shelter with their children in basements or metro stations. After the explosions in Kiev, some rushed outside to check their homes and businesses.

“We ran to try to save everything from our store,” said Ina Halushko, 50, the owner of a supermarket about a hundred meters from one of the affected locations in Kiev. The windows were shattered, she said, pointing to the store, but the building did not catch fire.

In Kiev, people who gathered near a building damaged by falling rocket debris said they were concerned about the dwindling supply of anti-aircraft missiles protecting the city.

“If America stops supporting us, you won't see me here next time,” said Olesya Dubinska, who lives in a nearby building. She watched as emergency crews cleared the scene with her dog, a black Doberman named Lucky.

“We understand that the forces are not equal,” she said. “Our territory is much smaller than Russia. Of course we need help.”

Andrew E. Kramer reporting contributed.