Major Russian attack kills at least 16 and leaves Ukraine pleading for help from Trump

Russia unleashed a devastating assault on major cities across Ukraine early Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than a hundred, authorities said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded for more help from the United States after the strikes, which left people trapped under the rubble of apartment buildings and residents scrambling to shelter underground as smoke billowed over the capital Kyiv. It follows warnings from Moscow of an intense new wave of attacks, as the Kremlin hopes to change the narrative of a war mired in battlefield setbacks and diplomatic stalemate amid growing signs of domestic disquiet. Eleven people, including two children, were killed and 37 injured in a Russian missile and drone attack on the southeastern city of Dnipro, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on messaging app Telegram. About 50 buildings were damaged in the city, Hanzha said, as he posted pictures of destroyed homes, burnt-out vehicles and a damaged children’s playground. The country’s emergency service said that a rescuer was among the dead in Dnipro after what appeared to be a double-tap strike. “A search and rescue operation is underway in Dnipro at the site of a four-story apartment building. Part of the building was effectively demolished,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday, adding that Russia fired more than 650 drones and 70 ballistic, cruise and anti-ship missiles at Ukrainian communities overnight. “A large-scale attack and a completely transparent statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these strikes will continue,” he said. “Assistance from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems is absolutely necessary,” he added. At least five people were killed and 65 injured, including three children, across the capital of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, as multiple multi-story residential buildings in the capital either caught fire or were damaged in attacks. Thousands of residents flooded into the Kyiv subway system seeking shelter early Tuesday, witnesses said, some carrying belongings and mattresses, as the sound of defense systems repelling Russian attacks filled the air. Air raid warnings sounded over much of the country early Tuesday after Zelenskyy reiterated warnings the previous day that a major assault. Ukraine has warned for weeks about dwindling supplies of air defense missiles to protect its cities, worried they were being used up in the war in the Middle East. With U.S. diplomacy stalled amid that shift in focus, Russia has targeted Ukraine’s power supply and infrastructure while Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil facilities. Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged the attack on Tuesday, saying it was targeting military infrastructure in response to “the terrorist attacks by the Kyiv regime.” Moscow maintains it doesn’t target civilians despite years of attacks that have leveled entire Ukrainian towns and left thousands of civilians dead or injured. Russia warned last week that it intended “systematic strikes” on targets in Kyiv linked to the Ukrainian military as well as decision-making centers, and urged foreigners to leave. On the ground with Ukraine's war recruiters It said the action was in response to a drone strike last month on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held region of Luhansk, which killed 21. Russia has called it a terrorist attack against children, though Ukraine denied targeting civilians. At a meeting with officials dedicated to that attack on Monday, Putin appeared to issue another warning. He said that Kyiv had given the war a “new dimension” by striking the dormitory. “That is their choice,” he added. The Ukraine war has ground on since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Efforts to end it have made little progress, with President Donald Trump focused on the Middle East.