'Putin is vindictive': Russia pounds Ukraine as Kyiv pursues Kursk assault

Kyiv, Ukraine – Russia's aerial attack on Ukraine was colossal. Moving in waves from several directions and at different speeds and heights, 127 missiles and 109 drones attacked 15 of Ukraine's 24 regions. The attack is being seen in Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin's revenge for Kyiv's daring incursion into the western Russian region of Kursk that began in early August and has resulted in the apparent takeover of more than 1,000sq kilometres (386sq miles). "He is a vindictive person, he got offended," General Lieutenant Ihor Romanenko, ex-deputy head of the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, told Al Jazeera. The attack began in predawn darkness on Monday as buzzing swarms of explosives-laden heavy drones took off from the Azov Sea town of Yeisk in southwestern Russia.