Russia hammers Ukraine with missiles for 2nd day as Putin proves deadly capabilities despite losing ground
Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine — Ukraine faced yet another day of brutal Russian attacks on Tuesday. Multiple cities were hit again after dozens of missiles and explosives-packed drones rained down across Ukraine on Monday. Many hit packed neighborhoods during the morning rush-hour, as civilians made their way to work in cities including the capital Kyiv, which had largely escaped Russia's artillery for months.
Ukrainian officials said at least 19 people were killed in the first round of strikes on Monday, and more than 100 injured. The toll from Tuesday's onslaught wasn't immediately clear. Air raid sirens pierced the quiet of the early morning hours, accompanied by new alerts sent out via cell phones, warning of incoming missiles.
Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday that it had continued its "massive attack using high-precision long-range air- and sea-based armament." Moscow has called the aerial assault retaliation for an apparent Ukrainian attack on the Kerch Bridge over the weekend — the only land link between Ukraine's Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and mainland Russia.
The Ukrainian military said Russia fired more than 75 cruise missiles at the country on Monday, with around 40 intercepted by air defense systems. About two dozen Iranian-made suicide drones were used in the attacks, too.
Ukraine's infrastructure — the only target of the strikes, according to Russia — has indeed taken a pounding. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked businesses to close after 6 p.m. and residents to limit appliance use during peak hours in a bid to conserve electricity.
On Tuesday morning, Ukraine was still reeling from the onslaught as the fresh barrage of missiles struck. People emerged onto rubble-strewn streets to survey the damage and count the costs. But contrary to Russia's claims, those costs were being counted not only in damaged infrastructure, but dead civilians.
The assault sent residents in Kyiv back into subways and other underground shelters for the first time in many weeks, where they defiantly sang Ukrainian folk songs and their country's national anthem.
But while President Vladimir Putin may have proven Russia's ability to reach right across Ukraine, to recklessly rain missiles down on civilian neighborhoods, his soldiers are taking a beating on the battlefield.
"That is why they resort to this terror," said Ukraine's President Zelenskyy, adding a call for his own forces to "make the battlefield even more painful for the enemy."
CBS News visited villages near the raging front lines in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, one of four that Putin recently declared Russian territory in an illegal land grab. Despite his purported annexation, Ukraine's troops have recaptured territory in Kherson and some other regions in a counterattack so rapid that it is being measured daily, by the mile.
The villages there were among the first to fall to Russia and they remained under its iron grip for seven months, until they were liberated only about a week ago.
Resident Oksana told CBS News she was still in a state of disbelief, but when she saw Ukrainian troops enter her village, all she felt was "happiness."
"We were suffering," she said, fighting back tears as she described life under Russian occupation. "It was so hard, and so scary."
At a high school that was used for months as a military headquarters by the occupying Russian soldiers, the building itself tells the story of the brutal battle that brought the village back under Ukrainian control. Huge chunks of concrete are missing from the walls, every window is smashed, the buildings are scorched and the grounds are littered with the burnt-out carcasses of armored personnel carriers bearing the white "Z" of the Russian army.
CBS News found teacher Sveltana Reznichenko taking stock of the filth and squalor left behind by the retreating Russian forces. It looked more like the remnants of a ragtag militia than a professional army.
"When I came in there and saw this horror, I still had faith that we will rebuild everything," she said.
Zelenskyy vowed on Monday night that his nation would "rebuild all the objects that had been damaged in today's Russian terrorist attacks. It's just a matter of time."
By Tuesday morning, there was even more to rebuild, and plenty more fighting still to do.