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Drone attacks hit Russia for 2nd day in a row: Live updates on Ukraine


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People crammed into subway stations as air raid alarms sounded across the Ukrainian capital.CreditCredit…Laura Boushnak for The New York Times

KYIV, Ukraine — In a city where daily operations are disrupted by relentless Russian missile attacks, unpredictable power cuts and unreliable water supplies, residents Kyiv’s know that at any moment they may have to spend several hours in the bunker due to air raids. .

It has been 13 days since the last large-scale Russian missile salvo hit targets across Ukraine, the longest period without explosions in and around the capital since Moscow began its assault on Ukraine. the nation’s energy infrastructure in early October. For days, Ukrainian officials warned that another attack was imminent.

So when air raid alarms rang across Kyiv in the early hours of Monday afternoon, many were not surprised. The sirens were followed by a warning that the missile was heading, and soon the thunder of air defenses could be heard across the capital.

Olha Kotrus, 34, said: “Honestly, this time I feel relieved. For two weeks, it was reported that it could happen and then you live in stress all the time.”

Ms. Kotrus is sitting on the floor of a Kyiv metro station with her mother, a caged cat and her dog. The dog, wearing a blue suit to keep warm in the winter cold, was visibly stressed. Miss Kotrus was angry and fed up.

She joined the crowd of hundreds deep underground at the Golden Gate metro station, named after the main fortress that served as the entrance to the city 1,000 years ago.

By evening, however, the famous gate was left unlit, shrouded in darkness like much of the city. According to the national utility operator, Ukrenergo, Monday’s salvo of rockets that hit sites around the country was the eighth such attack on critical energy infrastructure targets.

Ukrenergo said in a statement: “Unfortunately, the energy infrastructure has been attacked and there has been an emergency power outage related to this issue.

According to local officials, at least ten missiles were aimed at Kyiv on Monday. Officials said nine were shot down above the capital.

Like all of those interviewed in Kyiv, Ms. Kotrus’ anger at Russia and her frustration was the result of many anxious days and long dark nights without electricity.

Anna Sokolova, 21, said she had suffered power and water cuts for two weeks, since the last rocket wave. Sokolova, who lives near a local utility headquarters that has been targeted in recent Russian attacks, said she always takes shelter when the alarm goes off.

But she doesn’t want to complain about her own hardships, saying it’s nothing compared to what her friends, soldiers fighting on the front lines, are going through.

Lyumyla Vonifatova, 66, agrees.

“We all understand that without electricity, life becomes impossible,” she said. However, we will have to find a way to overcome it.

She’s killing time in the subway shelter by viewing a small display of photographs of this war and others that have preceded it.

“Despite human losses and economic difficulties, we will stand firm to the end,” she said. “Because this is our fight for freedom.”

But Tetyana Tkachenko’s six-year-old son is too young to understand that. She says he gets scared every time the alarm goes off.

“He was crying, running around,” said Ms. Tkachenko, as alarms began to sound. He quickly put on warm clothes and begged “to take the subway,” she said.

She grabbed two foldable chairs, previously used for the park or the beach. But now they have become part of the family’s new routine, for when the sirens go off, they will go deep underground.

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