{"text":[[{"start":6.8,"text":"Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with hypersonic “Oreshnik” missiles as it mounted one of the biggest aerial assaults of the war on the capital and surrounding region."}],[{"start":16.3,"text":"One of the intermediate-range ballistic missiles, capable of carrying multiple conventional or nuclear warheads, targeted the area of Bila Tserkva 90km south of Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian president’s office and an air force spokesperson. "}],[{"start":30.9,"text":"It came hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the US embassy warned of an imminent large-scale attack. "}],[{"start":38.05,"text":"Moscow has previously launched two Oreshnik missiles at Ukraine. The first struck the south-eastern city of Dnipro on November 21 2024; the second hit infrastructure in the western Lviv region, near the Polish border, on January 9 this year. Sunday’s Oreshnik strike marked the closest to the capital yet."}],[{"start":58,"text":"The Oreshnik launches are widely seen as political signalling aimed at intimidating Ukraine and its western partners. Andriy Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said the strike “was probably meant to demonstrate ‘strength’ to the domestic audience, but instead it only confirms [Russian Presidnet Vladimir] Putin’s weakness. Even Russians see that he is a loser.”"}],[{"start":79.5,"text":"The missile is difficult to intercept because it flies at a speed of up to 13,000 kilometres an hour in a high-arching trajectory into the atmosphere before plunging steeply back down."}],[{"start":91.8,"text":"The Ukrainian Air Force said that more than 90 ballistic and cruise missiles and 600 drones also targeted Kyiv and other cities overnight in what was one of the single biggest concerted aerial onslaughts since Russia’s invasion began."}],[{"start":106.3,"text":"Russia’s defence ministry said it fired multiple Oreshnik missiles, as well as Iskander and Kinzhal ballistic missiles and Tsirkon cruise missiles, in the attack. It said it struck command points for Ukraine’s ground forces and military intelligence. It claimed not to have hit any civilian targets."}],[{"start":123.8,"text":"The ministry said the attack was retaliation for Ukraine’s strikes on what it claimed were civilian targets inside Russia."}],[{"start":131.25,"text":"In central Kyiv, an FT correspondent counted more than a dozen building-shaking blasts that reverberated across the capital and which Ukraine’s air force and Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported were the result of ballistic missile strikes. Zelenskyy said four people had been killed and about 100 injured across Ukraine."}],[{"start":151.95,"text":"Air defences were seen trying to intercept some of the incoming missiles. Every district of Kyiv suffered damage, Klitschko said. Fires raged and the sky was covered by a blanket of smoke as dawn revealed extensive damage to residential, commercial and government buildings, including the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Ministry, the National Art Gallery and the Chernobyl museum in the Podil district."}],[{"start":177.75,"text":"European leaders denounced the Russian bombardment. "}],[{"start":181.2,"text":"German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X that the German government “strongly condemns” Russia’s attack and its use of the Oreshnik missile, which he called a “reckless escalation”. He added: “Germany remains firmly at Ukraine’s side.”"}],[{"start":196.5,"text":"Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a statement: “I firmly condemn the heavy Russian attack that has once again hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, with the progressive rise in the level of weapons used.” "}],[{"start":209.95,"text":"The onslaught came 10 days after Russia pummelled cities across Ukraine with dozens of missiles and more than 1,400 drones in a relentless 24-hour barrage. A direct strike on a Kyiv apartment building by a Kh-101 missile produced this year with western components killed 24 people."}],[{"start":230.29999999999998,"text":"Ukraine has retaliated against Russia’s energy infrastructure, sending long-range drones deep into the country and striking oil and gas facilities in an attempt to stifle the resources underpinning its war machine."}],[{"start":243.85,"text":"Kyiv has also targeted military logistics and command and control centres inside Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory. It said on Saturday that it had attacked a base belonging to Russia’s elite Rubicon drone unit housed in a dormitory in the town of Starobilsk, in the eastern Luhansk region. "}],[{"start":262.5,"text":"Russian authorities said on Saturday that the building was a teachers’ training college, adding that at least 21 people were killed and 42 others injured in the strike. "}],[{"start":271.7,"text":"Additional reporting by Max Seddon in Berlin "}],[{"start":282.05,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779668548_7810.mp3"}