ReutersNot less than 15 folks have been killed and dozens extra wounded in Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, officers say.
The assault in a single day into Tuesday was one of many largest bombardments on Kyiv for the reason that starting of the full-scale invasion greater than three years in the past.
Ukraine’s inside minister, Ihor Klymenko, stated a complete of 440 drones and 32 missiles had been launched on the nation.
In the meantime, Russian air defence models intercepted and destroyed 147 Ukrainian drones in a single day, Moscow’s defence ministry stated.
The strikes on Kyiv lasted greater than 9 hours – sending residents fleeing to underground shelters from earlier than midnight till after dawn.
Officers stated a ballistic missile hit a nine-storey house constructing in a single district, with a complete of 27 districts of town coming underneath hearth.
“Waking up in utter nightmare: folks trapped underneath rubble and full buildings collapsed,” Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko wrote on X.
Klymenko stated rescue groups had been nonetheless working to free folks.
Loud explosions rocked town, together with the rattle of the machine weapons utilized by cellular Ukrainian air defence models to shoot down drones.
Extra sirens later within the morning disrupted rescue operations within the metropolis, hampering emergency staff looking the rubble for survivors.
Russia has intensified its air assaults towards Ukrainian cities in latest weeks, with a tactic of sending giant waves of drones and decoys designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Kyiv has launched attacks of its own, as direct talks between the warring sides did not safe a ceasefire or vital breakthrough.
ReutersPresident Volodymyr Zelensky referred to as Russia’s most up-to-date wave of strikes “pure terrorism”.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of finishing up the big scale strikes “solely as a result of he can afford to proceed this warfare”.
“It’s unhealthy when the highly effective of this world flip a blind eye to this,” he stated, including: “It’s the terrorists who ought to really feel the ache, not regular, peaceable folks.”
Drone strikes additionally hit the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Odesa, killing one particular person and injuring at the least 10 others, Klymenko stated.
Zelenksy had been hoping to talk with the US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday however Trump reduce quick his keep amid the escalating disaster within the Center East.
The information will come as a blow to Zelensky and his administration, which had been hoping to safe US assist on the convention for Ukraine’s strategic and navy objectives.
