The Ukrainian military said it hit two large Russian landing ships in attacks on the annexed Crimean Peninsula early on Sunday, as well as a communications center and other infrastructure used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea.
The attack followed a Russian strike on Kyiv with 57 missiles and drones launched against Ukraine in the early hours, including attacking Kyiv and the western region of Lviv near the Polish border.
Poland complained that a Russian cruise missile violated its airspace in its launch. "The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds. During the entire flight, it was observed by military radar systems," the Polish military said.
Ukraine said the Russians targeted critical infrastructure. "There were two preliminary hits on the same critical infrastructure facility that the occupiers targeted at night," Lviv's regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app. The strike used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which are harder to shoot down, he added, without identifying the facility.
Ukraine's military said in total, 29 missiles and 28 UAVs were launched of which 18 missiles and 25 drones were intercepted.
In Russia, families struggle to determine the fate of relatives after the deadly attack on Friday, that killed over 130 people at a suburban Moscow concert hall.
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Fire rages after Friday's deadly terror strike in Moscow
(Photo: Dmitry Serebryakov / AP)
Russian authorities arrested four suspected attackers on Saturday, Putin said in a nighttime address to the nation, among 11 people suspected of involvement in the attack. He claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine.
Though no court hearing has been officially announced, there was a heavy police presence around Moscow's Basmanny District Court on Sunday. Police tried to drive journalists away from the court.
Putin called the attack "a bloody, barbaric terrorist act" and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a "window" prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.
Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant to an Islamic preacher via a messaging app and paid to take part in the raid.
Kyiv strongly denied any involvement, and the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate claimed responsibility.
In his nightly address on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin was trying to divert blame for the deadly attack on Ukraine.
"We have seen these methods before. The Russians always find someone else to blame," he said, alluding to a possible involvement of the Russian regime in the attack, although he stopped short of making clear accusations.
"They burn our cities and blame Ukraine. They torture and rape our people and blame them. They inserted thousands of their terrorists to fight here on our Ukrainian soil and don't care what happens in their own country," Zelensky said adding that Putin waited 24 hours before addressing his nation, while looking for a way to blame Ukraine for the deadly attack.