(Kyiv) Russia launched an airstrike on Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least three people, including two children, and spreading terror in the Ukrainian capital after a week of strikes.
Thursday’s attack, which began around 3 a.m. local time (8 p.m. Eastern Time), killed two children and injured ten people, the Kyiv Military Administration said.
Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko explained on Telegram that “according to the first reports of rescuers, three dead, including two children, and four injured were found” in the Desnyansky district.
Several Russian missiles had been fired in the direction of the Ukrainian capital this week and on Monday an unusual daytime attack on the city led residents to take cover.
PHOTO VALENTYN OGIRENKO, REUTERS
Two residents of Kyiv hug each other near the body of a person killed by a Russian strike in Kyiv.
“All detected air targets were destroyed by the forces and means of our air defense,” the Kyiv military administration said on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, the falling debris is causing loss of life and destruction,” she said.
According to the same source, citing preliminary reports, the weapons used in Thursday’s attack are cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Evacuated children
Russia said on Wednesday it was evacuating hundreds of children from villages due to increased shelling in the border region of Belgorod, where the situation was deemed “alarming” by the Kremlin.
On Wednesday evening, at least two people were injured in the Russian town of Shebekino following a bombardment by the Ukrainian army, said the governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
“The night is still tense for Shebekino. Ukrainian soldiers shelled the city for an hour,” he wrote on Telegram, adding that one of the two injured men is in serious condition.
More than a year after the start of its military operation in Ukraine, Russia has seen an increase in attacks on its soil, with an unprecedented incursion last week in the southern region of Belgorod and a drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday.
“The issue of child safety in these two districts is very important,” Gladkov said. “All of us adults are very worried,” he added.
This admission of concern from Russia comes at a time when Moscow seems unable to stem attacks on its soil, and Ukraine is completing preparations for its counter-offensive against Russian forces.
Tensions between Russia and the West escalated further on Wednesday, when Germany announced it would drastically reduce Moscow’s diplomatic presence on its soil, in response to a similar move by the Kremlin.
Moscow called Germany’s decision “reckless” and promised to react.
The Russian authorities have recently decided to reduce, as of June, the number of people that Germany can send or employ in Russia in its embassy or in active institutions, forcing hundreds of German nationals to leave.
Ukrainian ship destroyed
On Tuesday, the Russian authorities announced for their part that they had neutralized eight drones which had managed to reach the capital Moscow and its region, located 500 km from Ukraine. Two people were slightly injured by falling debris on apartment buildings.
Last week, the Belgorod region was the scene of a major incursion, with dozens of armed men from Ukraine spreading panic for two days before being repelled by aviation and artillery Russians.
Since then, border areas in the Belgorod region have been bombarded daily.
On Wednesday, a drone also fell within the perimeter of an oil refinery in Ilski, in the Krasnodar region (south), without causing any casualties or damage, local authorities announced.
This same refinery had already been targeted in early May by two drone attacks which had caused fires.
In Ukraine, five people were killed and 19 injured in a bombardment by Kyiv forces in an area occupied by Russian troops in the Luhansk region (east), announced the authorities installed by Moscow.
Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Moscow destroyed the “last” Ukrainian warship still operational this week.
Asked by AFP, the spokesman for the Ukrainian naval forces, Oleg Tchalyk, did not formally deny, but called not to “pay attention” to Russian sources.