Russian missiles and drones hit Kyiv after Zelenskyy warning
Kyiv officials said at least two people were killed and 11 injured after Russia attacked the capital with missiles and drones overnight.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Russia struck Kyiv overnight with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least two people and injuring 11, according to city authorities cited by AFP. The attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said intelligence indicated Russia was preparing a large strike and urged people to take air raid warnings seriously.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram early Thursday that the capital was being hit by ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. He said the roof of a hotel had caught fire, and images shared online showed flames at the top of a building on Shevchenko Boulevard in the city center.
Klitschko later said 11 people had been wounded. He also said people were trapped inside a damaged nine-storey residential building and that the roof of another high-rise apartment block was burning.
AFP reported that city authorities later put the death toll at two. The agency said its journalists in central and eastern Kyiv heard more than a dozen explosions as Ukraine’s Air Force warned that ballistic missiles were headed toward the city.
Unofficial Telegram channels showed residents sheltering in underground stations during the attack, according to Al Jazeera. AFP reported that people on the streets were moving toward shelters while carrying sleeping mats.
Zelenskyy warned of a strike hours earlier
Zelenskyy had warned on Wednesday that Ukraine had information about another major Russian attack. Speaking at a joint news conference in Dublin with Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, he said Ukrainian officials had “relevant intelligence data” about the threat.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy said he was returning to Ukraine after the meeting. He urged Ukrainians to be “especially careful” and to protect their families by following air raid alerts.
Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin had been preparing a major attack on Ukraine “for some time” and described that as the immediate threat facing the country overnight. He also accused Russia of refusing to end the war it began with its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine has used official and unofficial channels to signal readiness for meetings and substantive negotiations. He said Putin was pursuing further aggression against Ukraine, other neighboring countries and Europe.
Russia has repeatedly used combined missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities during the war. The latest strike on Kyiv followed recent warnings from Ukrainian officials that air raids could intensify, according to Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.