FLASH
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Dozens injured and people trapped under rubble after attacks in Kiev, Dnipro and Kharkiv
Russian airstrikes on major urban centers in Ukraine, including Kiev, Dnipro and Kharkiv, have killed at least 11 people, injured dozens more and left people trapped under rubble.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones against Ukraine. The main targets included Kiev, the central city of Dnipro and the eastern cities of Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian air defenses said they destroyed or neutralized 40 missiles and 602 drones.
The Air Force said 30 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and 33 drones hit targets in at least 38 locations. Debris from downed drones fell in 15 other places. In Kiev, at least four people were killed and 63 were injured, including three children, Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported.
In Dnipro, at least six people were killed and 36 injured. Among the victims was a rescue worker who died in a second attack while emergency teams had arrived at the scene of the first strike.
The regional governor, Oleksandr Hanzha, posted photos on social media showing severely damaged residential buildings, burned vehicles and a destroyed children's playground. In Kharkiv, at least 14 people were injured, while apartments, garages and vehicles suffered damage.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a suspected rocket strike on a 24-story building caused part of the building to collapse and that people were still believed to be trapped under the rubble. He added that other buildings, including a nine-story building, were also engulfed in flames.
"In the Obolon district, vehicles are burning after being hit by rocket debris. There are also fires in two open areas, including one near a kindergarten," Klitschko said. According to witnesses, thousands of Kiev residents sought shelter in metro stations and other shelters after the air raid alert that swept across much of the country in the early hours of Tuesday.
In the Podilskyi district, the upper floors of a nine-story building suffered partial damage, leaving people trapped under the rubble. Rescue operations continued into the early morning hours, while an air raid alert remained in effect.
Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her husband, Yevhen, 64, were injured in their apartment in the Podilskyi district of Kiev during the attack. “I went out into the hallway with my phone in my hand and, before I realized what had happened, everything fell on my head, the windows and the door were blown off by the explosion,” Dniprovska told The Associated Press, with dried blood on her face and a bandage wrapped around her chin.
“I ran to the front door and started calling my husband from the room, but he too had been thrown by the blast wave,” she said, adding, “now I have nowhere to live. The apartment is completely destroyed, there are no doors, no windows, no balcony. You can go straight out of the room onto the street.”
Power company DTEK told Reuters that power was cut off to 140,000 residents in the capital. The company later said its crews had restored power to 110,000 residents, while two of its engineers were injured.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated warnings of a possible large-scale attack and urged citizens to pay special attention to air raid sirens.
“Intelligence warnings of Russian attacks remain in effect. A massive attack is possible; they have made preparations for it,” Zelensky said in his evening video address. According to him, “our defenders are ready 24 hours a day, to the greatest extent possible with the supplies we currently have.”
Last week, Russia declared that it intended to carry out "systematic attacks" on targets in Kiev linked to the Ukrainian military, as well as decision-making centers, calling on foreigners to leave the city.
The statement came after a drone strike on a dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine killed 21 people. Ukraine denied carrying out the attack.
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