Ukraine said that Russia attacked the country with many weapons, including Kinzhal missiles, while Moscow claimed this was an action in response to Kiev.
Ukraine’s Air Force Command announced that Russia early this morning attacked the country with 596 suicide and decoy drones (UAVs), 5 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, 4 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 23 Iskander-K and Kh-101 cruise missiles, and 4 Kh-59/69 tactical cruise missiles.
“The main direction of attack was Kiev province. Ukrainian air defense units shot down 558 UAVs, one Kinzhal missile, four Iskander-M shells, 12 Kh-101 and Iskander-K missiles, and two Kh-59/69. Missiles and 35 UAVs hit 22 locations, while debris fell in 17 areas,” the agency said.
Russian UAVs attacked targets in Kiev early in the morning of November 29. Video: Trukha News UA
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko announced that at least 2 people were killed and 37 injured after the airstrike. High-rise apartment buildings in at least six locations across the capital Kiev, including Sviatoshynsky, Dniprovsky, Darnytsky, Shevchenkivsky and Solomyansky districts, suffered damage. Some vehicles were also burned or severely damaged.
Vitaliy Zaichenko, general director of Ukraine’s state electricity company Ukrenergo, said power transmission lines were destroyed and nearly half of Kiev city was without electricity.
On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had conducted a large-scale coordinated attack using precision weapons and armed UAVs, targeting factories of the Ukrainian defense industrial complex and the energy infrastructure supporting their operations.
“This was an action in retaliation for Ukraine’s attacks on Russian civil infrastructure the night before. The raid completed its set mission, all targets were hit,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
A damaged building after Russia’s raid on Kiev, Ukraine, on the morning of November 29. Image: AFP
Russia and Ukraine have recently frequently attacked each other’s energy infrastructure, accusing each other of attacking civilian facilities and claiming to only target military targets or serve the other side’s defense activities.
The attacks took place as the US promoted efforts to end the conflict with a new peace plan proposed by the country. The original draft included 28 points, including many demands that Russia had made, such as Ukraine giving up part of its territory, accepting a limit on the size of its army and stopping pursuing the goal of joining NATO.
US, Ukrainian and European officials met in Switzerland on November 23 to discuss the “updated” version of the plan and announced that there had been significant progress.
Russian President Vladimir Putin first mentioned the plan on November 27, saying the US was taking Russia’s stance into account but there were still some issues that needed to be discussed. He also affirmed that Russian officials are ready to conduct “serious discussions” when the US special envoy arrives in Moscow next week.
President Volodymyr Zelensky today announced that the Ukrainian negotiating delegation is on its way to the US to discuss the plan.