Deadly Russian strikes pound Ukraine cities

KIEV

Russia rained missiles on Ukraine's two main cities, killing four people and injuring dozens while 250,000 consumers in the capital region were left without power in near-freezing temperatures.

The attacks on the capital Kiev and the northeastern city of Kharkiv came less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would intensify strikes.

"One wounded elderly woman from a building in the Solomyansky district... died in an ambulance. Twenty-seven wounded people were hospitalized," Kiev mayor Vitaly Klitschko said.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said two people were killed in the Kiev region.

National energy company Ukrenergo said 250,000 consumers were without electricity in Kiev and surrounding areas after the strikes. Temperatures in the region were hovering around 3 degrees Celsius.

The head of Kharkiv Oleg Sinegubov said one woman was killed in the northeastern city in attacks denounced yesterday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as "Russian terror."

Kiev authorities said missiles caused fires in a supermarket building, houses and a market.

Strikes in Kharkiv wounded over 40 people and damaged multi-story buildings, said the head of the city's military administration, Oleg Sinegubov.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia was launching Kinzhal missiles.

In a sign of growing concern, Poland yesterday scrambled four F-16 fighter jets to its border with Ukraine to protect its airspace.

Yesterday’s attacks came after an escalation in the war in recent days.

Putin on Jan. 1 called an unprecedented Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod a "terrorist act" and vowed retaliation.

Moscow also attacked Ukraine with a barrage of drones on New Year's Eve.