Russian missiles and drones kill 5 across Ukraine, as F-16 fighters down some of them

KYIV: Russia fired a barrage of dozens of missiles and drones across Ukraine for a second day on Tuesday, including some that Ukraine's president said were shot down by Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets before they reached their targets.

The onslaught killed at least five people, destroying a hotel, homes and residential buildings as well as critical infrastructure in multiple Ukrainian regions.

The capital and other towns and cities endured power outages in sweltering heat.

As it often does in public statements after Russian bombing raids, Ukraine's military listed the Russian regions and occupied territories where the weapons were launched. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other top officials have called repeatedly for the US to lift restrictions and let Ukraine strike deep inside Russia to hit military infrastructure responsible for the war.

"(The allies) try not to speak with me about it. But I keep raising this topic. Generally, that's it. The Olympics are over, but the ping-pong continues,” Zelenskyy said.

He thanked Ukraine's supporters for the F-16s but said there were too few of them and too few pilots trained to fly them.

Among the Russians regions listed as a source of the attack Tuesday was Kursk, where the head of the Ukrainian army said his troops have gained control of nearly 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles) since their surprise incursion three weeks ago. That's an area roughly the size of Los Angeles.

Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi also said that Ukraine has captured 594 Russian prisoners in the operation, which he said was intended to draw Russia's military away from the fighting in Ukraine. His claims could not be independently confirmed.

The Kursk operation, the largest incursion into Russia since World War II, has forced some 130,000 residents to evacuate their homes. Russia has sent reinforcements into the region, but it was not clear to what extent these movements might be weakening Russia's positions in Ukrainian territory.

Fighting in the region has raised concerns about dangers to the Kursk nuclear power plant, said International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi, who visited the plant Tuesday. He said in a post on X the situation there was “serious” and that any attack on a nuclear plant is unacceptable.

“There is now a danger of a nuclear incident here,” Russian news agencies cited Grossi as saying. “Today I was told about several cases of drone attacks on the territory, on the plant's facilities. At the plant I saw traces of these attacks.”

But the plant now is operating “in a mode very close to normal,” he said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said Tuesday that Ukraine has suffered heavy casualties in Kursk — some 6,600 troops either killed or injured — and that more than 70 tanks have been destroyed along with scores of armoured vehicles. Those figures could not be independently confirmed.

Syrskyi's claim of territorial control came hours after Ukraine endured a second consecutive barrage of nighttime air and missile attacks from Russia.

Five people were reported killed and 16 injured in the attacks, which Zelenskyy said included 81 drones, as well as cruise and ballistic missiles.

In the Kyiv region, which had struggled with blackouts after Monday's onslaught that targeted energy facilities throughout the country, five air alerts were called during the night. The regional administration said air defences destroyed all the drones and missiles but that falling debris set off forest fires.

After Monday's barrage across Ukraine of more than 100 missiles and a similar number of drones, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said "the energy infrastructure has once again become the target of Russian terrorists” and urged Ukraine's allies to provide it with long-range weapons and permission to use them on targets inside Russia.

The allies “try not to speak with me about it. But I keep raising this topic. Generally, that's it. The Olympics are over, but the ping-pong continues,” Zelenskyy said.

President Joe Biden called Monday's Russian attack on energy infrastructure “outrageous” and said he had “reprioritised US air defence exports so they are sent to Ukraine first.” He also said the US was “surging energy equipment to Ukraine to repair its systems and strengthen the resilience of Ukraine's energy grid.”

The Russian Defence Ministry said the attacks used “long-range precision air- and sea-based weapons and strike drones against critical energy infrastructure facilities that support the operation of Ukraine's military-industrial complex. All designated targets were hit.”

Russian officials reported four Ukrainian missiles were shot down over the Kursk region.