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Russia launched a rush-hour barrage of missiles towards Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least one person, the day after Kyiv secured Western pledges of dozens of modern battlefield tanks to try to push back the Russian invasion.
Moscow reacted with fury to the German and American announcements, and has in the past responded to apparent Ukrainian successes with air strikes that have left millions without light, heat or water.
The Ukrainian military said it had shot down all 24 drones sent overnight by Russia, including 15 around the capital, with no damage reported.
But soon afterward, air raid alarms sounded across Ukraine as people were heading to work, and senior officials said air defenses were shooting down incoming missiles.
The Kremlin said on Thursday it saw the promised delivery of Western tanks to Ukraine as “direct involvement” of the United States and Europe in the 11-month-old conflict, something both deny.
In the capital, crowds of people took cover in underground metro stations. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person had been killed and two wounded when a missile hit non-residential buildings in the south of the city.
Kyiv’s military administration said more than 15 missiles fired at Kyiv had been shot down, but urged people to remain in shelters.
DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy producer, said it was conducting emergency power shutdowns in Kyiv, the surrounding region, and also the regions of Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk because of the imminent danger.
In Odesa, the Black Sea port designated a “World Heritage in Danger” site on Wednesday by the U.
