Moscow launches missile attacks on Ukraine after Putin vows revenge for strikes on Russia

Pictures show destruction in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and Kharkiv in the northeast of the country following Russian strikes on the cities.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The death toll has risen to five following Russian strikes on the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.

As it stands, two people were killed 49 injured in strikes on Kyiv. Two others died and 16 were injured in the wider Kyiv region. In Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine, one person was killed and 47 were injured. Zelenskyy said Russia would be held "responsible for every life taken."

He said almost 100 missiles of various types had been used in the strikes with 70 of them downed by Ukraine's air defense systems. "'Patriots', 'Iris', 'NASAMS' — each such system has already saved at least hundreds of lives," Zelenskyy said.

— Holly Ellyatt

The governor of the Russian region of Belgorod said Tuesday that Ukraine attempted to strike the city of the same name again.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Russian air defenses downed five Ukrainian missiles as they approached the city. "Operational services are clarifying information about the consequences on the ground," he said on Telegram.

"According to preliminary data, there is one victim - a woman has a torn wound to her left hand. She was examined by emergency physicians and refused hospitalization," Gladkov said. He added that a retail space and several cars were damaged by shrapnel. In the Belgorod region, one passenger car was damaged by shrapnel in the village of Belovskoye. 

CNBC was unable to verify the information. If accurate, the latest attempt to hit Belgorod would continue an intensification of assaults between Ukraine and Russia around the new year.

Ukraine targeted Belgorod on Saturday in retaliation for a massive missile and drone attack that was carried out by Russia on Ukraine last Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Monday to intensify attacks on Ukraine after the Belgorod attack, in which 25 people died, including five children, and over 100 were injured. Ukraine has not publicly commented on the attack and both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's largest cities Kyiv and Kharkiv were attacked with drones and missiles by Russia, leaving four people dead and dozens injured.

— Holly Ellyatt

Poland said planes protecting its airspace following the latest Russian strikes on Ukraine had returned to base.

Poland deployed two pairs of F-16 fighter jets and an allied tanker following the latest assault on Ukraine in which Kyiv and Kharkiv were targeted.

The Polish army's operational command said the planes had now returned to base "due to the reduced level of threat."

"The operations of Polish and allied aircraft on duty in our airspace have been ended. The resources released returned to their bases and standard operating activities," the operational command said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Poland has been on higher alert since last Friday after a Russian missile entered Polish airspace for almost three minutes before it turned back into Ukrainian airspace. Poland said Tuesday that it is monitoring the situation in Ukraine on an ongoing basis "and remains on constant readiness to ensure the safety of Polish airspace."

— Reuters

Ukraine's foreign minister urged faster supplies of air defence systems, combat drones, and long-range missiles, the ministry said on Tuesday.

It said in a statement that Dmytro Kuleba called on Ukraine's Western partners to respond to a new Russian strike on Ukraine by "accelerating the supply of additional air defence systems, combat drones of all types, long-range missiles with a range of 300+ km."

It also said he had called on partners to make "a decision to transfer frozen Russian assets for the needs of Ukraine and terminating contacts with Russian diplomats in the relevant capitals and international organizations."

— Reuters

Ukrainian military officials said air defenses downed 72 Russia missiles that targeted the country earlier Tuesday.

Ukraine's air force and the commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhny, said 10 Kinzhal missiles, 59 cruise missiles and three Kalibr had been destroyed in the attacks in which Kyiv and Kharkiv were major targets.

Ukraine's air force said Tuesday's attack was as intense as Russia's "massive" assault on Ukraine last Friday that was described as Russia's biggest air attack of the war. At least 31 civilians died and over 160 others were wounded in the attacks that damaged infrastructure across the country.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's air force said on Telegram that "critical infrastructure facilities, industrial, civilian and military facilities were attacked. The main direction of the attack is the capital of Ukraine."

"In the first wave, they attacked with "Shaheds" [Iranian drones] from the south-eastern direction, with further movement in different regions of Ukraine. All 35 attack UAVs "Shahed-136/131" were destroyed by air defence," it said.

The air force said Russia also launched 16 Tu-95MS bombers around 6:00 a.m. local time and used them to launch "at least 70 Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 air-based cruise missiles."

Around 7:30 a.m. local time, the launch of 10 Kh-47M2 "Kinzhal" hypersonic ballistic missiles from MiG-31K fighters was recorded, the air force said.

"The enemy also attacked from the sea with three Kalibr cruise missiles, and from the north with 12 ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M/S-300/S-400 type." Preliminary information suggested that Russia had used 99 missiles of various types in total. CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on the latest series of strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv, saying 92 people are now known to have been wounded in the attacks. Four people have died, he said.

"More than 500 rescuers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, utilities services, energy workers, policemen," are working to alleviate the consequences of the attacks, he said on Telegram.

Since Dec. 31, Russian forces had used around 170 "Shaheds" (Iranian-made) drones and dozens of missiles of various types, Zelenskyy said, adding that "the absolute majority of them were aimed at civilian objects."

The president noted that Ukraine's air defense systems, such as the U.S.-donated Patriot system, were helping to save hundreds of lives.

"This year, we will continue working with everyone in the world who values life to further strengthen our air shield and hold Russia accountable for what it has done. A terrorist state must feel the consequences of what it does," Zelenskyy said.

— Holly Ellyatt

One person is dead and 44 others wounded following a Russian missile attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, a regional official said Tuesday.

"A 91-year-old woman died as a result of enemy rocket attacks on the center of Kharkiv," Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, said on Telegram.

"As of now, 44 victims are known. Among them are 5 children: 3 boys aged 9; girls 6 and 13 years old. The injured children have explosive injuries, bruises, acubarotraumas [contusions], acute reactions to stress," he said.

Of the 44 people that were injured, 28 are in hospital.

— Holly Ellyatt

Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine has come under a "massive rocket attack" on Tuesday, the city's mayor warned, urging civilians to remain within air raid shelters.

"There are several arrivals [of missiles] in the center of Kharkiv, in residential areas. There is a fire there now, rescuers have gone to the scene. Information about the victims is currently being clarified," Igor Terekhov said on Telegram.

"We have information that needs to be clarified about 41 [people] wounded. There is also information about the dead — their number is being clarified," he said.

He noted that Russia had previously struck Kharkiv with its next-generation Kinzhal (or "dagger") hypersonic ballistic missiles but it was not confirmed whether these missiles were used in the latest attack. Officials in Kyiv said Kinzhal missiles had been fired at the capital earlier. CNBC was not able to immediately verify the claims.

— Holly Ellyatt

The latest missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, in the early hours of this morning come after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to intensify Russia's attacks on Ukraine after a strike on the border city of Belgorod.

Speaking to Russian military personnel at a hospital on Monday, Putin said Russian forces would increase their attacks on military targets in Ukraine after an attack on the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday reportedly left 25 people dead and more than 100 injured.

Putin called the attack on Belgorod a terrorist act and a deliberate targeting of civilians. He said Russia was already retaliating, saying "strikes against Ukrainian military targets were carried out yesterday, today, and will be carried out tomorrow," according to comments translated by NBC News.

"Do you understand the meaning of what they [Ukraine] are doing? They want to intimidate us and create some kind of uncertainty in our country. For our part, we will step up the strikes that I mentioned, of course. Not a single crime — and this is, of course, a crime against the civilian population — will go unpunished, 100% of that. There can be no doubt," Putin said.

Adding that he was furious about the Belgorod attack, saying he was "boiling inside" following the strike, Putin insisted that Russia will not hit Ukraine's civilian population in response.

Ukraine's capital Kyiv was attacked early Tuesday morning, leaving at least 16 civilians injured.

— Holly Ellyatt

At least 16 people were wounded in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv Tuesday morning, the city's mayor said.

"So far, 16 people have been injured in a multi-story building in the Solomyan district, which caught fire as a result of a rocket attack. Doctors hospitalized 15 of them," Klitschko said, warning that there were several fires caused by destroyed missile debris in several other city districts.

— Holly Ellyatt

Poland said on Tuesday that two pairs of F-16 fighter jets and an allied air tanker were put into action to protect Polish airspace amid Russian strikes on Ukraine.

— Reuters

Air raid warnings are ongoing in Kyiv Tuesday, with officials warning that explosions and Russian missile debris have been reported in several areas of Ukraine's capital.

"Explosions in the capital. In particular, in the Holosiivskyi district, a fragment of a missile fell on the open space of the park. There are explosions in the Obolon district," Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram early Tuesday.

Electricity supplies to some residential buildings in several districts of the capital have been cut off, he added.

Ukraine's air force warned earlier of incoming Russian missiles targeting Kyiv, noting on Telegram Tuesday that "repeated launches" of Russian Kh-47M2 Kinzhal or "Dagger" hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles "are possible."

The fragments of Russian missiles destroyed by Ukraine's air defenses have landed in four districts across the capital, Kyiv's city military administration said on Telegram.

At least 29 people were killed in Russia's most recent large-scale attack on Kyiv last Friday, the KCMA confirmed Monday.

"For three days in a row, rescuers are conducting a search and rescue operation after an air strike on Kyiv. Unfortunately, bodies of those killed by Russian missiles are still being found. As of today, at 10:30 p.m., 29 dead have been found," the KCMA said on Telegram.

The administration said it was the "worst tragedy for the capital since the beginning of the full-scale invasion" in terms of the number of casualties.

Ukraine retaliated by attacking the Russian border city of Belgorod on Saturday, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 100.

— Holly Ellyatt