KIEV (dpa-AFX) – Russia has once again massively attacked the Ukrainian capital Kiev and other parts of the country with missiles and drones. According to authorities, there were a total of 10 deaths and almost 100 injuries across the country.
Violent explosions were heard in the center of Kyiv during the night. At least four people were killed and 58 others injured in the city of three million, as Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram. 40 of them are being treated as inpatients, including two children. Several buildings were damaged and caught fire. Many residents sought refuge in subway stations and air raid shelters. There were also brief power outages and problems with the water supply. At dawn, clouds of black smoke over the center indicated fires.
According to authorities, at least 6 people were killed and 25 others injured in the nighttime attack in the city of Dnipro. Of these, 23 are currently being treated in hospital, including a 13-year-old girl. According to the mayor, at least ten people were injured in the eastern city of Kharkiv. Russia also attacked targets in the city of Zaporizhia.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Moscow also used ballistic and cruise missiles in the attacks. Neither this information nor that on the number of victims could be independently verified.
People feared under rubble
In Kiev, a multi-story residential building collapsed in the Podilskyj district after an attack, as Mayor Klitschko wrote on Telegram. It is feared that people are buried under the rubble. Elsewhere, an attack damaged the upper floors of a 15-story apartment building. There are several fires in the city area.
In the neighboring country of Poland to the west, the military announced on Platform In Poland, the air defense is repeatedly alerted during major attacks in Ukraine, and sometimes fighter jets from NATO partners also take off.
Moscow: Attacks against military targets
The Russian Defense Ministry has justified the attacks as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks. The evening before, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv of “crimes against children and young people” at a meeting of the National Security Council in relation to a drone attack on a dormitory in the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk. 21 young people were killed in the attack. Kiev has “given the conflict a new quality,” claimed Putin, even though Russian attacks in Ukraine have already caused significantly higher casualties among the civilian population on several occasions.
This time too, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the attacks with “high-precision weapons” were only aimed at military targets in the neighboring country. The strikes with hypersonic weapons, ballistic missiles and drones are against “companies of the Defense industry in Kiev, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Dnipro, in the Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions, as well as against fuel and transport infrastructure objects used in the interests of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” the statement said.
Attack follows Zelensky’s clear warnings
Just ten days ago, Russia massively attacked Kiev with ballistic missiles and drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned several times since the end of last week of another massive Russian airstrike. “The information from the secret service about a possible massive attack remains current,” said the head of state in a video message on Saturday. He called on Ukrainians not to ignore air alerts.
The Ukrainian air defense is on standby, Zelensky explained. However, he acknowledged that a lack of supplies from Western allies to defend against ballistic and cruise missiles was causing problems.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian invasion with Western help for more than four years./jbz/DP/stw