Kyiv: Russia fired eight ballistic missiles at Kyiv early on Monday, all of which were shot down, Ukraine’s Air Force said. The thwarted attack still left one person injured by shrapnel and three more suffered severe stress reactions, officials said.
A series of loud explosions rang out in Ukraine’s capital just after 4 a.m., as the city was under its nightly curfew, followed by air raid sirens.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that in Darnytskyi district of eastern Kyiv the debris of an intercepted missile fell without catching fire, and elsewhere in the capital the explosive wave damaged the windows of a house.
The attack also left 120 households in the city without electricity, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said. Last winter Russian troops were deliberately targeting Ukrainian energy system causing power outages and blackouts across the country.
Over the weekend the UK Ministry of Defence noted that Russia last week used its heavy bomber fleet for the first time since September. It predicted the start of a more concerted campaign aimed at degrading Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter sets in.
Kyiv is routinely targeted by Russian drone and missile attacks.
Just over two weeks ago, Kyiv came under what Ukrainian officials said was the most intense drone attack since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones against the capital, of which 74 were destroyed by air defences.
Monday’s attack on the capital happened as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Argentina, where
he attended the swearing-in of the country’s new president, Javier Milei.