A night missile strike on Kyiv has left 11 people injured, including an 11-year-old child. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that Russian forces used ballistic missiles, causing fires and damaging a residential building. The attack occurred late Saturday and early Sunday, with at least three explosions heard in the Ukrainian capital.
According to reports from Ukraine’s TSN service, witnesses in Kyiv heard at least three distinct explosions. Social media users posted images of tall columns of thick black smoke rising over the city. One photograph showed a large crater in the middle of a street in the Darnytskyi district on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Colonel Timur Tkachenko, commander of the Kyiv Military District, stated that the city came under enemy missile fire.
Mayor Klitschko reported that a residential building was damaged and fires broke out at several locations, including a transformer substation in the Darnytskyi district. He confirmed that the attack involved ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian newspaper Pravda suggested that the missiles were likely Iskander-M ballistic missiles or S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft missiles used in a ground-attack role. The paper also noted that the first explosions occurred before the air raid siren sounded.
President Zelensky reveals full scale of the attack
President Volodymyr Zelensky provided a more comprehensive account of the overnight assault. In a social media post, he wrote that in the capital, residential buildings, offices, and a theological seminary were damaged. Emergency response operations were also underway in the Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions, where Russian strikes hit other targets.
– In total, Russia launched 120 drones and 12 missiles overnight, six of which were ballistic – said President Zelensky. – Our defenders managed to shoot down most of the targets, but they were unable to intercept the ballistic missiles – he added. The admission underscores a critical gap in Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, particularly against fast-moving ballistic projectiles that are harder to track and destroy.
Urgent appeal for air defense systems
Zelensky used the occasion to renew his call for international partners to deliver on promised support. – We expect our partners to fulfill their pledges for assistance packages to protect our citizens – commitments made during the NATO summit. We must finalize as soon as possible the arrangements for licenses for Patriot systems and the joint European project for ballistic missile defense – he said.
The attack comes amid heightened tensions following recent Russian threats against Poland. Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed solidarity with Poland, stating that “no one lets themselves be intimidated” by Russian threats. The missile strike on Kyiv is part of a broader pattern of intensified Russian bombardment targeting Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, particularly as the war enters its third year.
Źródło: polsatnews.pl, Fot. polsatnews.pl
