Russia steps up missile attacks on Kyiv with third salvo in five days
Russia launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv yesterday for the third time in five days, injuring 10 people, as Moscow ramps up its aerial assault across the country.
Roughly 190 missiles and 140 drones have been fired at targets across Ukraine during the last week, according to the foreign ministry in Kyiv.
Fired uncharacteristically late in the day – usually the attacks happen overnight – yesterday’s attack on Kyiv caught thousands of civilians off-guard as airraid sirens sounded just seconds before a hypersonic “Zircon” missile tore through a multi-storey building in the central district of Pechersk.
“It is another day of horror in Kyiv,” said Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik. “The missiles that attacked us, they launched very quickly. The explosions were right at the same time as the air-raid sirens.
“Today is just another horrifying example of what will go on and on with Russia unless they are stopped.”
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said at least 10 people had been injured as a result of the missile hit in the Pechersk district, including a 16-year-old girl.
He posted footage on the Telegram messenger site of rescuers searching through the rubble for more survivors.
Missile debris also damaged homes in two districts, Ukraine’s national police said.
Footage shared by Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, meanwhile, showed a group of children frantically running for cover after the delayed siren.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky later led a chorus of officials calling for more air defence s to mitigate against further attacks.
“Russian terrorists attacked the capital with ballistic missiles,” he wrote on Telegram. “We never tire of repeating that Ukraine needs more air defence.
“This is security for our cities and saves human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life must stop this terror.”
Ukrainian news outlets reported at least two explosions in the southern city of Odesa as Russian missile strikes targeted several other regions. There was no immediate word on injuries.
It comes as preliminary estimates from Ukraine’s national energy company Ukrenergo suggested Russia’s devastating missile attack last Friday caused more than €90m of damage to the power grid.
More than 150 missiles and drones were fired across Ukraine early on Friday, plunging more than a million Ukrainians into temporary blackouts, in what Kyiv claimed was a deliberate attempt to hit energy infrastructure.
Three days later, access to electricity in the southern region of Odessa and the north-eastern region of Kharkiv remained patchy, said Mariia Tsaturian, a representative of Ukrenergo.
She said more than 100 restoration specialists were working to repair the grid but it could take up to a week to fix access to the grid in Kharkiv.
“The most difficult situation is in Kharkiv. The damages are high there,” she said.
“Our restoration teams, together with some colleagues working on the distribution grid, are trying to find some tricky, creative solutions to return power to the city and to the district of the region,” she added.
Local governor Oleh Syniehubov said that certain districts would be without power for up to six hours a day until at least April. (© The Independent)