Russian drones and missiles struck several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Dnipro, early on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring about 100 others, according to Ukrainian authorities, after days of warnings that Moscow was preparing a large-scale assault.
The attack is one of the most significant in recent weeks as Russia continues its campaign against Ukraine’s infrastructure and urban centres in a war that has lasted more than four years. Ukraine has also intensified strikes on Russian oil facilities this year. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.
Last week, the Kremlin warned it would carry out “systematic strikes” on targets in Kyiv following a drone attack on a dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region that killed 21 people. Ukraine denied responsibility for that attack.
Images from Kyiv showed large explosions and thick plumes of smoke rising above residential districts. The city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said four people were killed and 58 wounded in the overnight strikes, including children.
“We couldn’t understand what was happening – some kind of apocalypse?” said Olha Mudra, speaking at the site of one strike, accompanied by her six-year-old daughter Natalia.
“Everything was covered (with debris), everything in smoke, you could see nothing,” she added, as she stood in front of a destroyed residential building and damaged cars.
Klitschko said a suspected missile strike hit a 24-storey apartment building, causing part of the structure to collapse and raising fears that residents could be trapped beneath the rubble. A nine-storey apartment block was also set ablaze, apparently by falling missile debris.
“In the Obolon district, cars are burning after being struck by falling missile debris,” Klitschko said. “There are also fires at two locations in open areas, including one near a kindergarten.”
Thousands of residents sought shelter in Kyiv’s subway system during the attack, witnesses said. Many carried mattresses and personal belongings as air defence systems engaged incoming targets throughout the night.
Additional explosions were heard across the capital after dawn, according to a Reuters witness.
In the southeastern city of Dnipro and surrounding areas, six people were killed and 36 injured in a separate missile and drone attack, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram.
He said all those injured were receiving hospital treatment and were in moderate condition. Photographs released by local authorities showed damaged apartment buildings, burnt-out vehicles and a destroyed children’s playground.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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