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Four people were killed after Russia unleashed a massive combined attack on Kyiv early Friday, sparking fires and scattering debris across many districts of the capital, Ukrainian authorities said.
At least 27 people were injured as emergency crews responded to multiple strikes, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. At least 430 drones and 18 missiles were used in the attack across the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He said the attack, which struck other regions of the country, was targeting Kyiv. “A specially calculated attack to cause as much harm as possible to people and civilians,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
He added Azerbaijan’s embassy was damaged by fragments of an Iskander missile.
Fifteen people were hospitalized, including one man in critical condition and a pregnant woman, after a series of powerful explosions sounded in the city and airs defenses were activated.
City authorities warned that power and water outages are possible.
Falling debris and fires damaged highrise apartment buildings, a school, a medical facility and administrative buildings across the city of about 3 million, officials said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said about 30 residences were damaged, and urged counterparts to swiftly implement strong measures discussed at a meeting of G7 nations in Canada.
“This brutal Russian attack demonstrates the urgent need for new contributions to Ukraine’s defense and new steps to increase pressure on Russia, including the long-awaited decision on frozen assets,” Sybiha wrote on X.
Apartment building ablaze
Klitschko said Kyiv’s heating system also suffered damage, with service interrupted in one district, but emergency outages had been resolved.
Three highrise residential buildings were damaged in the Dniprovskyi district east of the Dnipro River, he added, with nine residents evacuated from one that was ablaze.
Pictures showed flames rising over the city at various sites, as residents huddled in rubble-strewn streets outside apartment buildings after the attack.
The governor of the Kyiv region outside the capital said drone and missile attacks injured six people, including a seven-year-old child, and triggered several fires.
Ukraine’s air force said Russian drones and guided bombs were targeting several other regions.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, leaving the two countries locked in a state of all-out war ever since.
