Russia fired more than 100 missiles and drones in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, that went over the country’s border overnight into Thursday. Moscow described the intense bombing as “direct” punishment for Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russian civilian facilities.
The attack was a big one, and there was a lot of loss of civilian life. At least 13 people were killed, 86 injured in overnight strikes in Ukraine, officials confirm. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 70 of the wounded had to be admitted to hospital.
According to the Kyiv City State Administration, infrastructure was damaged in all the districts of the city, in total over 30 units.
The attack has damaged more than 20 residential buildings, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said. The search and rescue teams of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine operated in 15 locations in the capital in an intensive rescue operation to find survivors among the ruins.
As rescue efforts continued during the day, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) deployed around 500 people and 96 heavy machines to the disaster zone to aid the recovery operation.
Military Targeting and Retaliation Claims
The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed the 51 sites in the country were targeted in the heavy overnight attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, addressing the nation, said that the air defense forces effectively repelled a large number of incoming targets, but some of them still passed into the “shield. He made a strong call upon the international partners for support to strengthen the national air defence capacity.
The Russian Defense Ministry, on the other hand, said its forces had launched a “tremendous precision strike with air, ground and sea-launched weapons and attack drones.” The ministry claimed the operation strictly targeted military-industrial complexes, as well as fuel and energy infrastructure supporting the Ukrainian armed forces in and around Kyiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a daily press briefing that the General Staff Chief, Valery Gerasimov, briefed President of Russia Yeltsin on the results of the strike earlier in the day. Peskov pointed out that the military or militarized targets were struck, and that President Vladimir Putin is in touch with his military commanders “every day” of the year.
This is a harsh escalation after days of the Russian condemnation of the attacks on oil refineries in the Krasnodar and Yaroslavl regions. Such acts by Ukrainians against Russian domestic infrastructure will not compel Moscow to enter into peace talks, President Putin said on Sunday.
