Kyiv, Aug 20: A Russian missile barrage overnight Thursday killed at least six people in Kyiv as explosions echoed across the capital throughout the night, local authorities said.
At least 33 people were wounded in the attack, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. The air raid alert remained active into the early morning hours Thursday.
The strikes hit 12 locations across Kyiv’s Darnytskyi, Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts, damaging residential buildings, a medical facility and an educational institution. Emergency crews pulled people trapped under the rubble.
Russia has intensified ballistic missile attacks on the capital to constrain Kyiv’s air defence stocks. Kyiv has limited systems capable of intercepting ballistic threats, while supplies of missiles for its US-made Patriot air defence systems remain chronically constrained.
US President Donald Trump had authorised Ukraine to obtain licenses to produce Patriot air-defence systems, but later reversed that decision.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has intensified its own campaign of long-range strikes against weapons depots, military facilities and other strategic targets deep inside Russian territory, seeking to degrade Moscow’s ability to sustain its attacks on Ukrainian cities.
In Solomianskyi district, the top two floors of a nine-story residential building were destroyed and fires broke out on other floors. People were also trapped in two residential buildings and a school shelter. (AP)
