Russia strikes Ukraine with missiles, drones
KYIV: Explosions rang out in the centre of Ukraine’s capital on Thursday, following air alerts prompted by Russian missiles and drones, a day after several civilians were killed on both sides of the conflict.
Around 10 loud blasts were heard by AFP journalists from 5:00am (local time) onwards in Kyiv, as well as air defence fire.
Ukrainian air defence forces shot down “about three dozen enemy missiles, including ballistic missiles, over Kyiv and in the vicinity of the capital”, the city’s military administration said on Telegram, adding that the raid had lasted three hours.
It said 10 people were wounded, including an 11-yearold girl and a 38-year-old man, with two taken to hospital.
Rocket fragments fell onto a kindergarten in the Sviatoshynskyi district of the capital, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko, while an apartment building and a car caught fire in other areas of the city.
The last major Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital took place in early February.
On Wednesday, a fresh round of aerial bombardments left civilians dead in Ukraine and Russia as strikes escalate in the third year of the war.
As many as five people were killed by a Russian missile in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, with another nine injured and five more unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continued into the night.
Uncertainty over aid
A top US official said on Wednesday that Washington could not predict when a vital $60-billion military aid package for Ukraine would be passed in Congress, as Volodymyr Zelensky called for Western air defences after a Russian missile attack killed at least five.
A fresh round of aerial bombardments by both sides left civilians dead on Wednesday as strikes escalate in the third year of the war.
Kyiv’s army is facing manpower and ammunition shortages amid political wrangling in the US Congress that has raised uncertainty over the future of Western support.
Addressing the stalled aid bill while on a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “I’m not going to make predictions about exactly when this will get done, but we are working to get it done as soon as possible... but I cannot make a specific prediction today,” he told reporters at a press conference.