Putin unleashes hypersonic missiles in deadly new wave of airstrikes on Ukraine – as British intelligence claims Russia is on course to lose 500,000 troops on the frontlines by the end of 2024

Vladimir Putin has launched hypersonic missiles in the latest deadly wave of Russian airstrikes in Ukraine, regional officials said Monday.

The attacks killed at least three people and injured dozens. Two people were killed in the Khmelnytskyi and Dnipropetrovsk regions, Deputy President Oleksiy Kuleba said, while another was killed in the Kharkov region.

Ukraine said it had destroyed 18 of 51 launched missiles of various types.

Meanwhile, the British Ministry of Defense reported that Russia is on course to lose a total of 500,000 soldiers by the end of this year.

It said the average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine rose by almost 300 over the course of 2023, citing data from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

It has taken the toll of Russian attacks on Avdiivka, a small eastern town on the edge of the currently occupied Donetsk region.

Volunteers talk next to a damaged apartment building at the site of a Russian missile attack, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhia, Ukraine on January 8

People take shelter in a metro station during an air raid in Kiev, January 8

The Defense Ministry said the increased number of casualties reflects how the quality of the Russian president's military has deteriorated following the partial mobilization in September 2022, with Moscow calling in 300,000 additional troops.

The mobilizations turned the Russian arm into a “mass army of low quality and high quantity,” the Defense Ministry said in its report.

It also echoes reports that Moscow is using “human wave” tactics, sending thousands of poorly trained soldiers to their deaths to weaken Ukrainian defenses and identify weaknesses that can be exploited.

While the UK Ministry of Defense said it could not independently verify the methodology used by its Ukrainian counterpart, it has previously said the figures are “plausible”.

John Kirby, the spokesman for the US National Security Council, showed that Russia “continues to show no respect for the lives of its own soldiers and willingly sacrifices them in pursuit of Putin's goals.”

In its report, the British Ministry of Defense said it will likely take Russia between five and 10 years to rebuild a “highly trained, experienced preparedness force.”

Neither side made major progress in 2023, with Ukraine's much-vaunted counter-offensive failing to make the gains Kiev had hoped for.

This was largely due to Russia strengthening its defenses and laying huge minefields across the hundreds of kilometers of Ukraine that form the front line of the war.

Russia, meanwhile, appears to have adopted a tactic of attrition, aiming to deplete Ukrainian forces in overwhelming numbers while launching devastating air strikes on critical infrastructure in the cold winter months.

This was seen again on Monday during the strikes across the country.

Britain's Ministry of Defense has blamed Russia's rising toll on the attacks on Avdiivka, a small eastern town on the edge of the currently occupied Donetsk region (pictured)

The attacks come less than a week after Kiev warned it only had enough ammunition to withstand a few more powerful attacks amid intense Russian bombardment.

“The enemy launched dozens of rockets at peaceful cities and towns in Ukraine,” said Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy president of Ukraine.

He added that at least 33 were injured.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 32 cruise missiles overnight, as well as eight “Shahed” drones, and that all the drones had been shot down.

“Critical infrastructure facilities, industrial civilian and military facilities were attacked,” the Air Force said.

Russian missiles hit a shopping center and tall buildings in President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rig, killing one person, Kuleba said.

“In Kryvyi Rig there are many breaks in the electricity grids, there are power outages and electric transport does not work,” Kuleba said.

One person was also killed by separate “explosions” in the western Khmelnytsky region, he added, far from the front lines in the east.

In the eastern region of Kharkov, an elderly woman who was pulled from the rubble of her home in the town of Zmiiv also died, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.

The massive attack is said to have used Russian strategic fighter jets and hypersonic Kinzhal missiles.

A nationwide air raid alert was in effect for the latest attacks by Putin's forces.

A building went up in flames in Novomoskovsk, Dnipropetrovsk region.

Three administrative buildings, two gas stations, a five-story building and cars were also damaged and a minibus was overturned by a shock wave.

Among those injured in the city as a result of Putin's latest brutal attack were five children: boys aged four and eight, and girls aged eleven, sixteen and seventeen.

Researchers stand next to a car destroyed by a Russian missile in Zaporizhia on January 8

A local woman stands next to a damaged apartment building at the site of a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, on January 8

Police officers work at a site of a Russian missile attack in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, January 8

Workers of the Ukrainian emergency services help an injured man after a residential house was heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack, near Kryvyi Rih, January 8

A destroyed house is seen near Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, January 8

There were also deaths and injuries as a result of the wave of strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and in Krivoy Rog a shopping center and more than 20 private houses were damaged. A 58-year-old man suffered shrapnel wounds.

In the village of Lozovatka, a 62-year-old woman reportedly died under fire.

In Zmyiv, Kharkov region, people were pulled from the rubble after an attack, but rescuers were still looking for someone who feared being buried under the ruins of a house.

Russian forces struck industrial facilities in Kharkov, wounding three people.

Strikes also affected the Zaporizhia and Khmelnytskyi regions.

In a repeat of an incident last week, a Russian warplane fired a missile into its own territory, causing residents to evacuate.

Ukraine reported that the attacks included Kh-101/555 cruise missiles launched at least ten times by Tu-95 strategic bombers flying over the Caspian Sea.

Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were unleashed from MiG-31K fighter aircraft.

S-300/S400 ballistic missiles were fired from occupied Crimea and Russia's Belgorod region.

Kh-22/32 supersonic missiles were deployed from Tu-22M3 bombers flying over the Russian regions of Kursk and Voronezh.

Meanwhile, authorities in Russia are evacuating children from the border city of Belgorod, which has faced heavy attacks from Ukraine.

Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said he had posted a video to reveal the move to other Russian regions.

Oleh, a soldier from the infantry battalion of the 61st mechanized brigade plays with dogs in a trench at a position near the front line in the Kharkov region, Ukraine, January 6

“In the last 24 hours we have received 1,300 requests to send children from Belgorod to remote school camps in other regions (outside the war zone),” he said. “I called my fellow governors from the Voronezh, Kaluga, Tambov and Yaroslavl regions. They are all ready to help us.

'We have already sent our specialists to look at the location where the children are being placed.'

Adults are also demanding a rescue operation from a town just 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

“About 300 residents of Belgorod, who decided to temporarily evacuate, are currently being housed in temporary shelters in Stary Oskol, Gubkin and Korochansky district,” Gladkov said.