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Kyiv, Lviv Under Russian Attack as Missile Violates Polish Airspace

An explosion of a missile is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 24, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a missile is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 24, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Kyiv, Lviv Under Russian Attack as Missile Violates Polish Airspace

An explosion of a missile is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 24, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
An explosion of a missile is seen in the sky over the city during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 24, 2024. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Russia launched 57 missiles and drones on Ukraine on Sunday, including attacking Kyiv and the western Ukrainian region of Lviv, officials said, with Poland's armed forces saying one of Russia's cruise missiles briefly violated Polish airspace.
Ukraine's air force said it destroyed 18 out of 29 Russia-launched missiles and 25 out of 28 attack drones.
Several explosions rocked Kyiv early on Sunday, with Ukraine air defense forces destroying about a dozen of Russia-launched missiles over the capital and its vicinity, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said on the Telegram.
He added that there was only minor damage from the attack.
One of Russia's cruise missiles launched at Lviv, violated Poland's airspace Poland's armed forces said.
"The object entered Polish space near the town of Oserdow (Lublin Voivodeship) and stayed there for 39 seconds," the armed forces said on the social media platform X. "During the entire flight, it was observed by military radar systems."
The armed forces said earlier that Poland and allied aircraft was activated during the attack to ensure safety of Poland's airspace.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Telegram there were no attacks on the city but some 20 missiles and seven attack drones had been launched against the broader Lviv region, targeting "critical infrastructure.”

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NKorea Says it Tested Ballistic Missile Capable of Carrying Super-large Warhead

This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 2, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) attending the Enlarged Meeting of 10th Plenary Meeting of 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from June 28 to July 1 in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 2, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) attending the Enlarged Meeting of 10th Plenary Meeting of 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from June 28 to July 1 in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
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NKorea Says it Tested Ballistic Missile Capable of Carrying Super-large Warhead

This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 2, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) attending the Enlarged Meeting of 10th Plenary Meeting of 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from June 28 to July 1 in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 2, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (R) attending the Enlarged Meeting of 10th Plenary Meeting of 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, held from June 28 to July 1 in North Korea. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korea said it successfully tested a new tactical ballistic missile on Monday capable of carrying a 4.5-ton super-large warhead, a claim quickly disputed by South Korean officials and experts who speculate the North likely fabricated a successful test to conceal a botched launch.

A day earlier, South Korea reported the launch of two ballistic missiles by North Korea and said the second likely failed soon after launch, blowing up in flight over land.

Atate news agency KCNA said the test of the new tactical ballistic missile, named Hwasongpho-11 Da-4.5, was conducted with a simulated heavy warhead to verify flight stability and accuracy.
It did not elaborate on the nature of the simulated warhead.

North Korea's report on the missile test was likely "deception" with one of the two missiles flying abnormally and appearing to show up in a field not far from Pyongyang, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Colonel Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.

"Conducting a test-fire inland is extremely rare and it is highly likely to be false to claim it has succeeded," Lee said.

South Korea's military conducted artillery drills at ranges within five kms (three miles) of the Military Demarcation Line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Tuesday morning, an Army official said during the briefing.

The resumption of such live-fire exercises near the border comes following the suspension of a military pact signed with Pyongyang after the North launched hundreds of balloons carried by wind across the border that dropped trash throughout South Korea.

The country's Missile Administration will conduct another launch of the same type of missile in July to test the "explosion power" of the super-large warhead, KCNA said in a rare disclosure of a future missile launch plan.

The Hwasongpho-11, or Hwasong-11, is a series of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) developed by the North that are otherwise known as KN-23 and KN-24.

South Korea's military said on Monday the first of the two missiles launched by the North appeared to be a KN-23 that flew about 600 km (373 miles).

The KN-23 is likely the missile that North Korea has supplied to Russia and was used in the war against Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities who examined debris from missiles launched by Russia since December.

Some experts say test-firing missiles at ground targets could be related to efforts to test how powerful warheads are to destroy underground bunkers and structures.
But Shin Jongwoo, a Seoul-based military expert, said the lack of any photos on the launches means it’s highly likely the North is trying to deceive the outsiders to cover up Monday’s failed launches. He said North Korea likely launched an existing missile on Monday, not the new missile at it claimed.
Yang Uk, an analyst at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said that Monday’s tests reflected North Korea’s push to acquire a variety of conventional weapons. But he also said if North Korea truly succeeded in hitting a ground target, it probably would have already published related images to brag about its achievements as it’s done in the past.