9 Dead As Russia Uses Rare Hypersonic Missiles In Ukraine, Battle For Bakhmut Rages — Top Points

The latest barrage that hit Ukraine was Russia's most intense attack in several weeks. Ukraine said that Russia fired 81 missiles into its territory on Thursday.

Ukrainian servicemen fire with a 105mm howitzer towards Russian positions near the city of Bakhmut, on March 8, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ( Image Source :AFP )

New Delhi: The fight in Ukraine intensified as Russia employed several tactics in its latest assault using rare hypersonic missiles and cutting power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. According to the BBC, at least nine people died in the latest wave of strikes across Ukraine. It was the biggest attack by Russia on Ukraine since the end of January.

As per a BBC report, since the early months of the conflict, Moscow had reportedly not fired Kinzhal hypersonic missiles that can evade air defences.

The latest barrage that hit Ukraine was Russia's most intense attack in several weeks. Russia also cut power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe's biggest. It was later restored.

• In its biggest strike in weeks, Ukraine said that Russia fired 81 missiles into its territory.
  
  
• At least five people were killed in Lviv in western Ukraine in Thursday's attacks when a rocket hit their home, the region's governor Maksym Kozytskyi informed on Telegram, as per the report.  The shelling killed three people in the southern city of Kherson where a public transport stop was hit, Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak informed.
  
  
• "High-precision long-range air, sea and land-based weapons, including the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, hit key elements of Ukraine's military infrastructure," Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday, as quoted by the BBC.
  
  
• As per the report, the Ukrainian military claimed to have successfully shot down 34 cruise missiles and four Iranian-made Shahed drones.
  
  
• However, it said it had been unable to intercept the six Kinzhal ballistic missiles. It also couldn’t destroy older weapons, such as Kh-22 anti-ship missiles and S-300 anti-aircraft missiles.
  
  
• “This was a major attack and for the first time with so many different types of missiles,” news agency Reuters quoted a Ukrainian air force spokesperson as saying. “It was like never before.”
  
  
• As per the BBC, the attack was the biggest day of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine since the end of January when 11 people died after dozens of buildings were struck in several areas.
  
  
• This comes as the Ukrainian military is in an intense battle to maintain control in the eastern city of Bakhmut while Russian forces claim to have taken control of its eastern half.
  
  
• "The enemy continued its attacks and has shown no sign of a let-up in storming the city of Bakhmut," general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said, as quoted by the BBC. "Our defenders repelled attacks on Bakhmut and on surrounding communities," he said.
  
  
• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that it will be an “open road” for Russian troops to capture cities if they seize control of Bakhmut. “This is tactical for us, we understand that after Bakhmut they could go further,” he said in an interview with CNN.

"I had a meeting with the chief of staff yesterday and the chief military commanders online and offline ... and they all talk that we have to stand strong in Bakhmut," Zelenskyy told CNN.

Bakhmut is a salt-mining town with a pre-war population of 80,000. The battle for the eastern city has been the longest and bloodiest in Russia's invasion which has crossed a year’s mark.