Russia has attacked Kyiv and other cities with a wave of explosive drones, with blasts rocking the Ukrainian capital this morning
Five strikes on central areas of Kyiv have hit residential buildings, killing at least three people
Among the dead are a couple expecting a baby, according to Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko
But Ukraine says it has shot down dozens more so-called “Kamikaze drones” on the way to destroy further targets
Dozens have been helped to safety by emergency services, as a frantic rescue operation looking for people trapped in the rubble continues in the capital
The strikes have not been confined to Kyiv, with President Volodymyr Zelensky stating Russia had launched drone and missile attacks “all night and all morning” to “terrorise” civilians around the country
The worst of these appears to have come in the north-eastern Sumy region, were four people have died after a rocket attack
The wave of blasts have caused power outages in nearly 600 towns and villages across the country, as well as cutting off power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
As the result of Russian attacks over the past 24 hours, 585 towns and villages across Ukraine are now without power, Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin says.
Speaking live to Ukrainian TV, he says the Russians “terrorised not only the capital [Kyiv] but whole regions of Ukraine”.
Yenin says the confirmed death toll of a Russian strike on an energy-generating facility in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region has risen to four. The local authorities earlier reported three victims (see our earlier post).
A similar attack was carried out in the south-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, he says. There were no casualties.
“Russia is hunting for all energy-related facilities,” the deputy interior minister warns. “They want to cause chaos in the energy industry.”
Source: BBC
