Putin’s deadly new terror tactic: Russian missiles ‘wipe out’ another hotel in Ukraine, killing a British ex-soldier at least two days after a similar attack – as a second night of ‘despicable’ attacks target energy facilities across the country

Ukraine has suffered a second night of deadly Russian airstrikes, just hours after a “massive” bombardment destroyed energy infrastructure and civilian buildings by waves of drones and hypersonic missiles.

At least four people were killed in the strikes, two of whom were confirmed dead after a rocket attack “wiped out” a four-story hotel in the city of Kryvyi Rih.

Air raid sirens sounded throughout the night in the Ukrainian city, the birthplace of President Zelensky, and in the central and eastern regions. At 11 p.m. on Monday night, air raid sirens also sounded in the rest of the city.

The attack came days after another hotel used by civilians in the Donetsk region was attacked, killing former British soldier Ryan Evans, a Reuters security adviser.

President Zelensky said Russia had deployed more than 90 air weapons, including 81 Iranian-made Shahed drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

“We will undoubtedly respond to Russia for this and all other attacks,” he said on X. “Crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished.”

The Ukrainian leader yesterday condemned Moscow’s “despicable” bombing campaign, saying Vladimir Putin’s forces had fired at least 127 missiles and 109 drones on Monday in “one of the largest Russian attacks” of the war.

The Aurora Hotel in Kryvyi Rih was almost completely destroyed by a Russian airstrike

Local residents stand at the site of a Russian missile attack, during the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih

A car crushed by rubble from a destroyed building in Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine

Monday’s attack left seven people dead and 47 injured across the country. Some of the strikes were aimed at depriving citizens of electricity and water.

Photos show rescuers still trying to find two missing people at the Aurora Hotel, believed to be trapped under the rubble.

The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the take-off of “several” Tu-95MS bombers from Engels airfield in western Russia early this morning.

According to Serhiy Popko, head of the Kiev military administration, Ukrainian air defenses shot down about 15 drones and several missiles near Kiev during the Russian attack last night.

US President Joe Biden called the attacks “outrageous”, but the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War predicted that Moscow “probably does not have the defense industrial capacity to carry out such large-scale attacks on a comparable scale with regularity”.

The latest attacks are seen as a reflection of Putin’s anger over Ukraine’s occupation of a large part of Russian territory in the Kursk region.

The Hotel Aurora as it was before last night’s strike

An emergency vehicle is seen next to the building where at least two people were killed last night

Rescue workers carry a victim at the scene of a Russian missile attack in Kryvyi Rih

Russia struck Ukraine with missiles for the second day in a row, hitting a hotel used by civilians in Kryvyi Rih, the home city of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

President Zelensky demanded that he obtain permission from the West to carry out long-range strikes in Russia using missiles supplied by NATO countries.

Poland announced that an unknown “airborne object” flew in Polish airspace during the Russian bombardment.

General Maciej Klisz, the armed forces’ operational commander, said at least three radar stations had registered the suspected drone.

The military had the situation “fully under control” and was prepared to shoot down the object if necessary, he said.

A search has been launched into the possibility that the object may have ended up on Polish territory.

The raid took place near the Ukrainian town of Chervonohrad.

Video shows explosions, reportedly in Kiev, as Russia bombed Ukraine on Monday

Video identified by Russian Telegram channels SHOT and Mash as a high-rise residential building in the city, with a damaged side and multiple blown-out windows on three floors

A visibly angry Putin is seen in a muffled video of a weekend meeting with top military leaders

Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported a Ukrainian drone attack the night before.

Four people were injured in the central Saratov region, where drones hit residential buildings in two cities.

One drone hit an apartment building in the city of Saratov and another hit a residential building in the town of Engels, home to a military airfield that had been attacked earlier, local officials said.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that a total of 22 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight and in the morning in eight provinces, including the Saratov and Yaroslavl regions in central Russia.

Russia also said its forces had repelled attempts by Ukraine to attack half a dozen settlements in the Kursk region, where Ukraine carried out an incursion on August 6 that caught Russia by surprise.

Fighting in the region has raised concerns about the nuclear power plant there, with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, saying he would visit the plant on Tuesday.