Sweeping Russian air attack hits Ukraine, Putin vows to carry on fighting in Ukraine if peace deal not reached

Russia launched a sweeping overnight air attack on Ukraine, injuring at least four railway workers and prompting Poland to scramble defence aircraft, Ukrainian and Polish authorities said on Wednesday.

The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a military parade in Beijing to mark the end of World War Two, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the world faces a choice between peace and war.

Air raid alerts sounded for hours across Ukraine, with explosions heard in nine of its 24 regions, from Kyiv to Lviv and Volyn in the west, Ukrainian officials and media said.

Ukraine’s western neighbour and NATO member Poland activated its own and allied aircraft to ensure safety, its armed forces command said.

“The Russian Federation once again is carrying out strikes on targets located on the territory of Ukraine,” the operational command said in a post on X.

Four railway workers in Ukraine’s central region of Kirovohrad were in hospital after the Russian attack, Ukraine’s state-owned railway said on the Telegram messaging app, warning of delays to scores of services caused by damage to rail facilities.

Five people were injured and 28 houses damaged in a Russian attack on the Znamianka community in the region of Kirovohrad, Ukraine’s emergency services said on Telegram.

Public transport in the western city of Khmelnytskyi faced “significant schedule disruptions” after the attack, its administration said on Telegram, with the regional governor flagging fires and damage to residential buildings among others.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes in the war Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

Putin vows to carry on fighting in Ukraine if peace deal not reached

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 3 vowed to carry on fighting in Ukraine if a peace deal cannot be reached.

"I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel," Putin told reporters, including AFP, in Beijing, adding: "Let's see how the situation develops. If not, then we will have to resolve all our tasks militarily".

Putin also said that Russian forces were "advancing on all fronts" on the battlefield in Ukraine.