At least 12 people have been killed and 20 others injured, including two children, after a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes hit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and surrounding areas.
Ukrainian officials said six of those killed were railway workers employed by the state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, after a railway depot in Kyiv was hit during the overnight attacks.
Eight people were killed in Kyiv, where fires broke out across three districts, while another four people died in the nearby town of Boryspil after a residential building was struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nearly 350 emergency workers had spent the night responding to the attacks in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
He said Russia had launched a “significant number” of drones and ballistic missiles as part of the latest assault.
The strikes mark the sixth consecutive day of Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities warning that the continued bombardment is putting pressure on the country’s air defence systems and civilians.
Russia said its latest “massive strike using high-precision weapons” targeted Ukrainian military and energy facilities. Moscow also reported that one person had been killed in Ukrainian strikes in Russia’s western Belgorod region.
The attacks came a day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the war.
Speaking at a security summit in Kyrgyzstan, Modi said every day of war pushes humanity backwards and called for greater movement towards peace.
Modi has made similar appeals to Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. India, however, maintains close economic ties with Moscow and remains a major buyer of discounted Russian oil.
Ukraine has also reported attacks in eight other regions.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivsky said an Indian national was among those killed in Boryspil. The man, who turned 26 on Tuesday, was reportedly killed when a residential building was hit.
The latest strikes follow a deadly attack on a weapons depot in the Kyiv region on Friday, in which 38 people were killed. The strike caused shells, mines and drones stored at the facility to explode, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Meanwhile, a separate Ukrainian drone attack struck the major Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, causing a fire, according to Leningrad regional Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko.
Ukraine has defended attacks on facilities such as Ust-Luga, saying the port handles millions of tonnes of petroleum products and helps generate revenue that supports Russia’s war effort.
SOURCE: BBC
