Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least 16 people and injured several others across Ukraine in overnight attacks, local authorities said Thursday.
In Kyiv, a 12-year-old child and three others were killed in a Russian strike, and at least 18 people were injured, military administrator Tymur Tkachenko said. Local media reported multiple explosions as missiles struck the capital in several waves. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency teams rescued a mother and child from a centrally located building whose ground floor was badly damaged. Firefighters were battling several blazes across the city.
In the southern port city of Odesa, officials said nine people died after strikes. Earlier on Wednesday evening a Russian drone hit an apartment block there, killing at least one person and injuring six.
In Dnipro, a missile strike set residential buildings on fire, killing two people and injuring at least 27, with five in critical condition, regional authorities reported.
Authorities warned the death toll may rise as many missiles and drones struck civilian areas. Explosions and damage were reported across multiple districts, affecting residential and commercial buildings, and air raid alerts rang out across several regions as the attacks continued into the early morning.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed or neutralized 31 Russian missiles and 636 drones during the raids. “During this period, the enemy launched two waves of combined attacks on Ukrainian territory, using ground-based and air-launched missiles, as well as attack drones,” the service said in a Telegram statement.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after meeting European allies in Germany, reiterated that Ukraine’s top diplomatic priority is securing more air defense systems. “Every day we need air defense missiles — every day Russia continues its strikes,” he wrote on Telegram. “There can be no normalization of Russia as it is today. Pressure on Russia must work. And it is important to fulfill every promise of assistance to Ukraine on time.”
Edited by: Louis Oelofse