Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) – Russia launched dozens of missiles and drones into Ukraine on Wednesday morning in a “major” attack that killed at least five people and injured more than 30, officials in Kiev announced.
Published on: 02/07/2024 – 13:29
4 minutes
The strikes came as European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell paid a visit to the Ukrainian capital and coincided with Kiev’s call on its Western allies to increase the military supplies it desperately needs, especially air defense systems.
A Russian strike on the capital, Kiev, claimed the lives of four people when a high-rise residential building was bombed, causing a large fire to break out while thick smoke covered its upper floors.
“Another major attack on our country,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media.
Rocket and drone attacks were also recorded in the northeast and south of the country, as well as in the Lviv region to the west, hundreds of kilometers away from the front line.
Officials said that at least four people were killed in the bombing of the residential building in Kiev, while one person died in the southern Mykolaev region.
The Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army, Valery Zalughny, reported that Russia used drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles.
He explained that Russia launched a total of 20 drones and 44 missiles in the attack that occurred in the morning, while the Ukrainian Air Force shot down 15 drones and 29 missiles.
The Kiev authorities reported that at least 35 people were injured in the capital, while three other people were injured in the Kiev region and two in the city of Kharkiv (northeast).
Later Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had launched an air attack with missiles and drones against “military manufacturing” facilities. She confirmed that she achieved all her goals.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilian areas in Ukraine, despite numerous documented strikes on residential buildings and the United Nations’ confirmation that 10,000 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion in February 2022, although the actual number is likely to be much higher.
“Under the rubble”
The attack on the 18-storey residential building in the Golosyevsky district in southern Kiev led to windows on several floors being shattered while columns of smoke rose from the destroyed facade.
Interior Minister Igor Klimenko said that about 60 people had been evacuated.
An AFP correspondent saw 13 ambulances and nine fire engines at the site on Wednesday morning while firefighters inside the building tried to put out the flames.
“There are probably dead people under the rubble,” Klimenko said earlier.
A resident, Dmytro (31 years old), told AFP that he feared that his wife would be among those killed in the attack.
After their child was first removed from the building after the strike, smoke filled the place and emergency team members prevented him from going up again to take her down.
He said, “My apartment is located to the left of the gap (left by the bombing). I was covered in shrapnel… and I suffered many injuries.”
“Ukraine needs help”
As rescuers worked in Kiev, Ukrainian presidential advisor Andriy Yermak described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “criminal” in a post on social media.
“Russian missiles. Kiev. Apartment building again. This is what they spend their money on. Attacks on civilians. Ukraine needs help,” Yermak said.
The Ministry of Energy reported that electricity was cut off for about 30,000 people in Kiev.
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine would “certainly respond” to the strikes.
In the southern Mykolaev region, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich reported that the attack destroyed the roofs of 20 houses and caused damage to gas and water pipes in the coastal city, where one person was killed.
The attack came as Borrell was visiting the Ukrainian capital. He went to a shelter in his hotel when the bombing began, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent.
© 2024 AFP
#killed #major #Russian #attack #Ukraine
2024-02-07 12:29:05
