KYIV: Russia on Tuesday rained missiles on the Ukrainian capital and other cities killing one person and injuring dozens, with downed rockets hitting high-rise buildings and sparking fires.
More than a dozen loud explosions were heard in Kyiv by AFP journalists on Tuesday morning as air defences worked, shaking buildings in the city centre.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, one person was killed and more than 20 injured by “at least four strikes” that damaged multi-storey buildings and civilian infrastructure in the centre, the head of the city’s military administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia was launching Kindzhal missiles and more were heading towards the capital as well as towards the south and west.
Tuesday’s attacks come a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces would intensify strikes on military targets after an unprecedented Ukrainian attack over the weekend on the Russian city of Belgorod.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported multiple explosions and debris from downed missiles hitting the capital.
He said 10 people had been injured in a multi-storey block of flats in the Solomiansky district “where a fire broke out as a result of a missile attack”.
In the Pechersk district, debris hit the roof of a nine-storey building and another multi-storey building, the military administration said,
Fires also broke out in a supermarket and a warehouse, the mayor said.
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In the city’s northern Podil district, “the territory of a civilian infrastructure facility is believed to have been hit”, Klitschko said.
Some civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in four districts were without power and there was a temporary lack of water pressure in the supply network in some areas, the mayor said, while a gas pipe had been damaged in one district.
“As soon as the security situation allows it, we will restore electricity to everyone,” the city’s military administration said.
The attacks came after Russia on December 29 launched a wave of strikes across Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, which killed 39 people.
Moscow also hit Ukrainian cities on New Year’s Eve, with Kyiv saying it had foiled a “record” number of drones launched by Russia.
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