ReutersNo less than 14 individuals have been killed in a single day and dozens extra wounded in Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, officers say.
It was one of many largest bombardments of the capital because the starting of the full-scale invasion greater than three years in the past.
Ukraine’s inside minister, Ihor Klymenko, mentioned a complete of 440 drones and 32 missiles had been launched on the nation.
In the meantime, Russian air defence items intercepted and destroyed 147 Ukrainian drones in a single day, Moscow’s defence ministry mentioned.
The strikes on Kyiv lasted greater than 9 hours – sending residents fleeing to underground shelters from earlier than midnight till after dawn.
Officers mentioned a ballistic missile hit a nine-storey residence constructing in a single district, with a complete of 27 districts of town coming beneath fireplace.
“Waking up in utter nightmare: individuals trapped beneath rubble and full buildings collapsed,” Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko wrote on X.
Klymenko mentioned rescue groups had been nonetheless working to free individuals.
Loud explosions rocked town, together with the rattle of the machine weapons utilized by cell Ukrainian air defence items to shoot down drones.
Extra sirens later within the morning disrupted rescue operations within the metropolis, hampering emergency staff looking the rubble for survivors.
Russia has intensified its air assaults towards Ukrainian cities in latest weeks, with a tactic of sending massive waves of drones and decoys designed to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences.
Kyiv has launched assaults of its personal, as direct talks between the warring sides did not safe a ceasefire or important breakthrough.
ReutersPresident Volodymyr Zelensky known as Russia’s most up-to-date wave of strikes “pure terrorism”.
He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of finishing up the massive scale strikes “solely as a result of he can afford to proceed this struggle”.
“It’s unhealthy when the highly effective of this world flip a blind eye to this,” he mentioned, including: “It’s the terrorists who ought to really feel the ache, not regular, peaceable individuals.”
Drone strikes additionally hit the southern Ukrainian metropolis of Odesa, killing one particular person and injuring a minimum of 10 others, Klymenko mentioned.
Zelenksy had been hoping to talk with the US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday however Trump lower quick his keep amid the escalating disaster within the Center East.
The information will come as a blow to Zelensky and his administration, which had been hoping to safe US assist on the convention for Ukraine’s strategic and navy targets.
