Ukraine sounded the alarm across the country on Thursday after Russia launched a wave of missile and drone strikes, officials said.
Aerial sirens were also heard in the country’s capital, Kyiv, where missile defense systems managed to shoot down 15 targets.
No injuries were reported immediately.
Ukrainian military general Serhii Popko said missiles were fired “in the direction of Kyiv”, but did not reveal whether Russia intended to target government buildings or something else.
A person walks past a sign reading ‘to Moscow’, placed on an old tank on display at a war museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, January 25, 2023.
(AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR: GERMANY AGREES TO SEND 2 BATTALIONS OF LEOPARD 2 TANKS AFTER STRONG PRESSURE
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko also said explosions were heard in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district, on the eastern bank of a river that divides the city.
Photos from Kyiv showed residents huddled together in the metro.
The attacks come as Ukrainian military officials need to be trained in the use of Western tanks.
Germany and the United States announced on Wednesday that they would send advanced battle tanks to Ukraine and train Ukrainian troops to use them in a bid to help Kyiv break through battle stalemates, as the he Russian invasion is approaching its first year.
The training will begin in a few days, the German Defense Minister said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Ukrainian troops would first learn to use German-made Leopard 2 tanks at a training site in Germany by the end of the month.
People gather at a metro station used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, January 26, 2023.
(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
US CAN DELIVER ‘SIGNIFICANT NUMBER’ OF ABRAMS TANKS TO UKRAINE DESPITE PENTAGON MISGIVINGS
People gather at a metro station used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, January 26, 2023.
(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry took to Twitter on Wednesday to celebrate the start of the training.
“Free at last,” the department tweeted along with a photo of a leopard. “He comes to Ukraine to do the job. Our lands will be liberated!
The tanks are expected to arrive in Ukraine before the end of March, Pistorius said.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Germany is initially sending 14 Leopard 2 tanks, but it could send up to 88 tanks to Ukraine. The United States will send more than 30 M1 Abrams tanks, the Pentagon has announced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
