Kyiv, June 23: A Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital overnight killed at least nine people and injured others, according to local officials, as rescue workers and firefighters sought to remove people they believed trapped under debris in a partially collapsed apartment building.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian short-range drone attack killed two people and wounded 10 more in the Chernihiv region late Sunday night, authorities said. According to the regional administration head, Viacheslav Chaus, three children were among the wounded.
Another person was killed and eight wounded overnight in the city of Bila Tserkva, around 85 kilometers (53 miles) southwest of the capital.
The strikes came nearly a week after a combined Russian attack on Ukraine last Tuesday killed 28 people in Kyiv, 23 of them in a residential building that collapsed after sustaining a direct hit by a missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called that attack one of the biggest bombardments of the war, now in its fourth year.
In the early hours of Monday, drones and missiles hit residential areas, hospitals and sports infrastructure in numerous districts across Kyiv, emergency services said, with the most severe damage occurring in the Shevchenkivskyi district, where one section of a five-story apartment building collapsed.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said six people were confirmed dead in the Shevchenkivskyi district. Ten others, including a pregnant woman, were rescued from a nearby high-rise that also sustained heavy damage in the blast.
Dozens of vehicles, some burned out and others mangled by flying debris from the blast, formed a snarl in the courtyard in front of the building, which had collapsed down to the second floor.
Onlookers, some wrapped in blankets, watched tearfully as the cleanup operation took place. Dozens of volunteers worked to remove broken glass, downed tree branches and other debris.
Klitschko told reporters from the scene that “we very much hope that the death toll will not increase,” but that rescue workers were still searching the collapsed building for further casualties.
Russia fired a total of 352 exploding drones and decoys overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. Russia also launched 11 ballistic missiles and five cruise missiles. Air defences intercepted or jammed 339 drones and 15 missiles before they could reach their targets, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 23 Ukrainian drones overnight into Monday. (AP)
