Russia has attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least 17 people, as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said interceptors “could have saved lives”.
In one of the deadliest strikes across Kyiv this year – which started after midnight on Wednesday – at least 44 people were injured after residential buildings, a railway station and warehouses were hit, Zelensky said.
Ukraine, who has consistently urged allies for more US-made Patriot missile interceptors to defend against Russian ballistics, has not reported intercepting any of the missiles in the overnight attack.
Zelensky added delays in receiving anti-ballistic systems from partners leads to “horrific casualties and destruction”.
The Russia defence ministry said it had struck logistics hubs and supply centres in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
“These centres were involved in the storage, delivery of various weapons and military supplies, as well as in the production and distribution of unmanned aerial vehicles,” it said.
It also said it had also hit three cargo vessels “which were transporting weapons and military equipment” near the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said there were fears people could be trapped under rubble.
Ukraine’s emergency services said one person had died in the city of Kyiv and at least 16 injured, with a further 16 dead in the wider region.
Fires were still being extinguished in five locations across the region on Wednesday, covering an area of approximately 230,000 sq m, it added.
The country’s air force said in a post on Telegram that Russia had launched 24 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles during the attack on the capital.
The air force added that 115 drones had been launched by Russia during the attack and air defence systems intercepted 98 of them.
Russia has intensified attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, while Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, including power facilities.
Dmitry Milyaev, the governor of Russia’s Tula region, said on Wednesday that a drone had crashed into a warehouse of e-commerce giant Wildberries in the region overnight and caused a fire.
He said on Telegram that one person had been injured and there had been no deaths reported, with the retailer saying firefighting teams were working at the site and the facility had been evacuated pre-emptively.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted warehouses, including those operated by Wildberries. Five people were killed and 10 wounded in the Moscow region on Tuesday morning in the most recent strikes on warehouses.
The day before, Russian officials said seven people were killed and 58 injured after a drone hit a busy beach in the southern Krasnodar region.
Ukraine, meanwhile, expressed outrage over a video showing a man chased by a drone in Kherson, calling it a deliberate “hunt” and “safari” targeting civilians.
Both sides have denied deliberately targeting civilians.
