Russian hypersonic missile hit 'area of' major air base, says Ukraine

A Russian hypersonic missile struck the "area" of Ukraine's major Starokostiantyniv airbase on Monday morning, Kyiv said in a rare admission, after a drone and missile attack that also targeted the capital.

The latest strike on the Starokostiantyniv airfield in the western Khmelnytskyi region, which is often attacked by Russia, came a day after the Dutch defence minister said the Netherlands would supply Ukraine with more F-16 jets in the coming months.

Ukraine, which took receipt of a batch of F-16s this summer after months of lobbying the West, keeps the whereabouts of its warplanes top secret to protect them from long-range strikes that Russia has conducted throughout its war.
 

The air force, which seldom discloses damage to military targets, did not say if the strike had caused any damage to the air base, but the acknowledgment of a missile striking the vicinity of the facility was unusual.
 

There were no civilian casualties or damage to critical infrastructure, Governor Serhiy Tyurin said.
 

Two Kinzhal missiles were also shot down in the Kyiv region, the air force said. Debris came down in three Kyiv districts, but no major damage or casualties were reported after air defences engaged incoming targets, city authorities said.
 

Debris damaged the roof of a multi-storey residential building and the roof of a supermarket in the Solomianskyi district in the city's west and one piece of debris came down on the territory of a school, the head of city's military administration Serhiy Popko said.
 

Missile debris also fell onto an open area in the central Shevchenkivskyi district and damaged the roof of a car in the southern Kyiv district of Holosiivskyi.
 

Ukrainian air defences also shot down 32 Russian drones and a further 37 were lost on military radars, suggesting they had been disabled by electronic warfare systems, the air force said.
 

Russia has staged long-range missile strikes on Ukraine throughout the war it launched in February 2022. Drone attacks have become regular, almost nightly occurrences.