KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched yet another aerial bombardment of Kyiv on Thursday, killing at least three people and wounding others, authorities said.
Following a reported 17 drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in May, Russian forces hit the capital in the early morning with ground-launched missiles.
The Kyiv City Administration reported one child was among the dead, and 10 people were wounded. The casualty toll was the most from one attack on Kyiv in the past month. The attack also damaged apartment buildings, a medical clinic, a water pipeline and cars. Earlier, the city government had said that two children were killed before revising the number to one.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported that the Air Forces intercepted all 10 missiles, which it identified as short-range Iskander cruise and ballistic missiles.
One explosion sent missile fragments ripping into an apartment building in a leafy neighborhood. In the morning light, paramedics escorted an elderly woman gingerly away from the building as the bare feet of a person killed in the attack poked out from underneath a plastic tarpaulin in a roped-off area between the trees.
“Around 3 a.m. there was a strike over there. I woke up and saw the fire. My door was smashed, I woke up my mom and ran to the corridor,” said resident Nikita Maslun, peering through a broken window. “Then we went down and ran outside. We saw people running. Windows were shattered and balconies destroyed.”
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said authorities were investigating why a shelter at a medical facility was locked, preventing some people from taking shelter during the bombardment.
Kyiv mayor also said that the events scheduled in the capital on June 1, which Ukraine celebrates as International Children’s Day, have been canceled.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Kyiv with waves of drone and missile attacks since the start of the invasion, but attacks against the capital have significantly intensified over the past month as Ukraine prepares for a counteroffensive. While most incoming weapons are shot down, many Kyiv residents are anxious and tired after weeks of sleepless nights listening to the sound of explosions.
Ukraine’s air defense has become increasingly effective at intercepting Russian drones and missiles, but the resulting debris can cause fires and injure people below.
In Desnianskyi district, debris fell on a children’s hospital and a nearby multistory building. Two schools and a police department were damaged.
In another district, Dniprovskyi, a residential building was damaged by burning debris and heavy smoke arose, the blast wave blew out the windows, parked cars caught fire, and debris fell onto the roadway and courtyards.
In Darnytskyi neighborhood, a water pipeline and a residential building were affected, and the explosive wave broke windows.
After a woman was killed watching an aerial attack from her balcony earlier this week, Kyiv authorities urged residents to heed warning sirens and stay in shelters or other safe locations. “You’ve got to be vigilant, as ballistic missiles fly at incredible speeds. From the moment the alarm is announced to the rocket’s arrival, you have only a few seconds!” they warned in a message to residents.
Ukraine also claimed last month to have downed some of Russia’s hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has touted as providing a key competitive advantage.
On Wednesday, Russian forces carried out three aerial attacks over the south of Kherson region, along with missile and heavy artillery strikes on other parts of the region.
In earlier developments:
—Russian troops around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant attacked the city of Nikopol and surrounding villages on the bank of Dnieper River with drones and heavy artillery, damaging several residences.
—Authorities in Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar, which borders the annexed Crimean Peninsula, reported that drones crashed into two oil refineries. One briefly caught fire and another didn’t sustain damage, officials said. They didn’t explicitly blame Ukraine.
—The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced the evacuation of children from two areas that have often come under Ukrainian shelling.
—Russian-installed authorities of the partially occupied Luhansk region said Ukrainian armed forces shelled the village of Karpaty, killing five people and wounding 19.
—In another apparent cross-border attack, two construction workers in Russia’s Kursk region were injured during shelling from Ukraine, the regional governor, Roman Starovoit, reported. He said on Telegram channel the two were working in the Korenevsky district “on a defensive line along the state border.”
—The Russian Defense Ministry said the Ukrainian Navy’s landing ship Yurii Olefirenko was destroyed in a strike Monday on the Odesa harbor. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Yurii Olefirenko was the last Ukrainian Navy ship that remained in service, but this claim couldn’t be independently verified.
