Ukrainian President Volodymyr has vowed a strong response to a wave of Russian missiles that hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on January 23, killing 18 people and wounding more than a hundred.
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Rescue workers in Kharkiv -- Ukraine's second-largest city -- pulled survivors from smoldering piles of rubble after a third wave of air strikes launched by Russian forces hit civilian infrastructure in the city.
"Ordinary life is what modern Russia considers a threat to itself. This state is a typical terrorist," Zelenskiy said in his evening address.
"Let them know in Russia that the Ukrainian character knows how to be far-reaching enough in response. The Russian war will inevitably be brought back home -- back to where this evil came from, where it must be quelled."
Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said eight people had been killed in his city in one of the early waves of air strikes. More than 50 people were wounded in Kharkiv, including four in the last wave of strikes, he said.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attacks hit residential buildings, shops, and other civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's second-largest city.
"There is no military facility there," he said. "The aggressor proves again this day that Russia is a terrorist state and cannot be forgiven."
Terekhov said the earlier strikes damaged 30 residential buildings. Some 1,000 windows were broken, and the heating had to be turned off in 20 buildings as the temperatures reached minus 7 degrees Celsius, he said.
The earlier strikes occurred amid an air-raid alert declared for the whole territory of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy said the death toll could rise from 18, referring to the rescue operation still ongoing in Kharkiv at "an ordinary high-rise building" where ordinary people lived.
The Ukrainian General Staff said earlier that Russian forces had launched combined missile strikes using cruise and ballistic missiles, aviation, and anti-aircraft guided missiles.
Zelenskiy said it was another combined attack to circumvent air defense systems. Some missiles were shot down, but those that got through damaged more than 200 objects, including 139 houses, he added.
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Deadly Russian Missile Strikes Hit Kharkiv And Kyiv
In Kyiv, at least 20 people, including four children, were wounded, Mayor Vitali Klitschko and city administration chief Roman Popko said on Telegram.
One woman was declared clinically dead despite efforts by doctors to resuscitate her, Popko said.
Three districts -- Pechersk, Svyatoshynsk, and Solomyansk -- were targeted in the attack, Klitschko said.
"As a result of the Russian missile attack, 20 people were wounded; 13 of them are hospitalized, including three children. One 13-year-old boy and six adult victims were treated by medics on the spot," Klitschko wrote.
Russian missiles also hit the city of Pavlohrad, in the southern region of Dnipropetrovsk, killing at least one person, regional Governor Serhiy Lysak announced on Telegram.
In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on January 23 that the missile strikes "successfully" targeted Ukraine's military production facilities hitting all intended targets, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov again denied that Russian forces had struck civilian areas, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Russia over the past several weeks has abruptly intensified its missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets, causing numerous deaths, injuries, and material damage. The eastern city of Kharkiv, which lies only 30 kilometers from the border, has been particularly targeted by Russian strikes.
According to Ukrainian officials, between December 29 and January 2, Russia launched more than 500 Iranian-made drones and cruise missiles at Ukraine's cities.
The unusually intense wave of strikes has also put pressure on Ukraine's air defense capabilities and its ammunition stockpiles, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call on Kyiv's allies to step up weapons deliveries.