Missiles target Kyiv in ninth air attack this month

UKRAINE’S capital was targeted with yet another wave of Russian missiles today as Vladimir Putin’s forces continued their intensified bombardment.

Black smoke filled the sky over Kyiv during the ninth attack on the capital this month — which officials said had been repelled with the help of Western air defence systems.

Falling debris from missiles hit by air defences set off fires in eastern parts of the city, causing minor damage but no casualties in the capital, officials said.

Ukraine’s military said it shot down 29 of 30 missiles launched by Russia in overnight strikes. However, one person was said to have been killed in an attack on the southern city of Odesa.

Ukraine’s military said the barrage included cruise missiles fired from the sea, air and land, and that two Iranian-made Shahed attack drones and two reconnaissance drones had been knocked out.

“All targets over Kyiv were shot down,” General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said on the Telegram messaging app. A witness in Kyiv, who did not give his name, said: “There was a very powerful explosion. Then I saw the smoke. I found out that the debris fell on the garages, my one is nearby.”

Officials in Odesa said an unspecified industrial facility had been struck when a missile crashed to the ground after being hit by air defences, killing one person and wounding two.

After “exceptionally dense” air strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday, Ukraine said it had shot down six Russian Kinzhal missiles. Moscow denied losing the hypersonic missiles and said it had destroyed a US-made Patriot missile defence system. However, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat today said the Patriot system was still being used by Kyiv.

While most of the ground fighting is stalemated along that frontline, both sides are targeting the other’s territory with long-range weapons.

Meanwhile, Russian state media said five train cars carrying grain derailed in Russian-occupied Crimea this morning. Quoting a source within the emergency services, state news agency RIA Novosti said it happened near the city of Simferopol.