Russian army launches Kh-22 missiles on military facilities in Kyiv and Kharkiv

The Russian army launched a new missile attack on military targets in Ukraine. Targets were hit in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities.

Several explosions were heard in Kyiv and the region in the morning of January 23, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said. He urged citizens to stay in shelters.

Later, the Kyiv military administration clarified that Russia first launched Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers. The missile attack was conducted in two stages: while they were in Kyiv airspace, ground-launched ballistic missiles were launched.

Oleg Sinegubov, the head of the Kharkiv administration, said that at about 04:00 (05:00 Moscow time) and 07:20 (08:29 Moscow time), the Russian Armed Forces launched several attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv. According to Sinegubov, Kh-22 missiles were used in the attack. A gas pipeline caught fire and power outages were reported in Kharkiv.

Attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv not related to Donetsk shelling

Russia's most recent strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv do not come as a response to Ukraine's shelling of Donetsk, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, RIA Novosti reports.

According to Peskov, the Russian military "do not hit social facilities, residential areas or civilians.”

"This is what fundamentally distinguishes our military from the military of the Kyiv regime,” he added.

Ukraine unable to shoot down Kh-22 missiles

Ukraine Air Force Speaker Yuriy Ignat earlier confirmed that since the beginning of the special military operation, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have not been able to shoot down a single Kh-22 missile.  The supersonic long-range air-launched anti-ship cruise missile “flies at a speed of 4,000 kilometres per hour, it approaches the target most often along a ballistic trajectory, and one requires special means to intercept it.”