‘Massive’ Russian missile and drone barrage pounds Ukraine capital
President Volodymyr Zelensky cuts short foreign trip following intelligence warnings of imminent strikes
Russian missile and drone strikes rocked Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Moscow was preparing a “massive attack”.
Russia has routinely launched waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, during its more than four-year invasion, which has become Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.
The attack came after Ukraine’s air force warned that ballistic missiles were headed towards the capital and followed Zelensky cutting short a visit to Dublin Wednesday, citing intelligence reports of an impending Russian strike.
Agence France-Presse journalists in central and eastern Kyiv heard more than a dozen explosions and saw residents – some with children and pets – rushing to shelter in metro stations.
The strikes killed eight people and wounded at least 25, including children, the head of the city’s military administration Tymur Tkachenko said, decrying the deliberate targeting of civilians and residential areas.
Five districts of the wider Kyiv region were struck in the attack, according to regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk.