Kyiv endures another bombing as Russian attacks target cities

Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched a missile attack on Kyiv as the Kremlin steps up its assault on cities including Odesa and Kharkiv, as well as the war-battered nation’s energy infrastructure.

Two ballistic missiles were intercepted over the capital on Monday, Ukraine’s air defense said on Telegram. As air-raid alarms sounded, a school sports hall in central Kyiv was damaged, while drone debris fell in several other districts, the municipal military administration said. At least 10 people were injured, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his appeal to international partners for more protection against Russian strikes.

“We never tire of repeating that Ukraine needs more air defense,” he said in a statement on Telegram. “All of us in the world who respect and protect life need to stop this terror.”

The strike in Kyiv and attacks across Ukraine’s south overnight — triggering widespread blackouts in the Black Sea port city of Odesa — were part of intensified assaults from the Kremlin three days after the worst atrocity in Moscow in two decades killed at least 137 people.

Even as Islamic State claimed responsibility for the concert killings, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday pointed the finger at Ukraine without offering evidence. Kyiv flatly denied any involvement.

Even before the killings, Russia stepped up attacks against Ukraine’s energy system, on Friday launching the biggest strike at facilities in the sector since the invasion began more than two years ago. The city of Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast suffered the most damage — and continues to rely on backup generators for critical needs.

“Russia continues to target our energy infrastructure,” national power grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram. Two substations were damaged in the Odesa and Mykolayiv regions. Restricted electricity consumption in Odesa was further reduced, after debris from a downed drone fell on a substation, according to Ukrenergo.

Russian forces struck an underground gas storage facility in western Ukraine on Sunday, damaging equipment. Oleksiy Chernyshov, chief executive officer of state-run Naftogaz Ukrainy, said the facility below the surface wasn’t damaged.

Russian attacks have caused as much as $100 million in damage to Ukraine’s power grid over the past week, Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said. An intercepted drone in the city of Mykolayiv fell on a residential area and injured 11 people, the southern military command said.

VADIM GHIRDA/ASSOCIATED PRESS First responders inspect the damage after another Russian missile strike Monday in Kyiv, Ukraine, that reportedly injured at least 10 people. The Kremlin has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian cities.