Russia missiles target Kyiv after Putin vows revenge
Russia fired more than 30 missiles at Kyiv early yesterday, the largest attempted attack on the Ukrainian capital for weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed retribution for escalating strikes on Russia’s border regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to deliver air defence systems after the attacks, which wounded 17 in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 31 Russian missiles fired towards Kyiv.
“Such terror continues every day and night,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram yesterday.
“It is possible to put an end to it through global unity... Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing Patriot and other leading world systems,” he said.
“This protection is required in Ukraine now. From Kyiv to Kharkiv, Sumy to Kherson, and Odesa to the Donetsk region.
“This is entirely possible if our partners demonstrate sufficient political will.”
A vital $60-billion US military aid package for Ukraine is currently held up in Congress amid domestic political arguments.
Local officials said falling debris from the missiles injured 17 – 13 in Kyiv and four in the surrounding region.
The air force said Russia fired two Iskander ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles, launched from strategic bombers. “Our defenders worked successfully and shot down all the missiles,”
Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy head of Zelensky’s office, said.
Zelensky posted a video of windows blown out of a residential building and debris strewn across the street as firefighters used water hoses on the smoking building.
It was the first attempted missile strike on the Ukrainian capital since early February, said Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.
The attack comes after a sharp escalation in Ukrainian strikes on Russian border regions and oil refineries over the last two weeks.
Yesterday, the Russian governor of the Belgorod region, on the border with Ukraine, said five people were injured in the latest aerial bombardment. (AFP)