Russia Launches Deadly New Wave of Missiles and Drones at Ukraine

Russia launched a fresh wave of pre-dawn missile and drone attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday, striking Kyiv and several other large cities as it stepped up a deadly bombing campaign that began a day earlier and was one of the largest of the war. The barrage hit a hotel in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, sparked brush fires in parks in Kyiv and set off air alarms throughout most of the country. Russia has over the past year fired large volleys roughly once a month in attempts to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defense systems with combinations of drones and missiles launched from multiple directions. The bombardment that began on Monday could have additional significance, however, because it comes three weeks after Ukraine’s military launched an incursion into the Kursk region of Russia. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had promised a decisive response to what was the first invasion of Russia since World War II, and his spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, reiterated that message on Monday, saying that Russia would inflict ‘an appropriate response.’