Two people have been killed in a Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv as Vladimir Putin marked his 74th birthday, with residents sheltering in underground stations amid warnings of a major assault.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the deaths occurred after a fire in the densely populated Darnytskyi neighbourhood. Two other people were rescued while emergency crews tackled the blaze, he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned that Russian forces were preparing “a massive strike”, urging people to remain alert for air raid sirens. He said Ukraine’s military was “ready to respond, to the extent that our defence systems allow”.
Residents took bags, blankets and sleeping mats into metro stations as alerts were issued across Kyiv and other parts of the country. Iryna Rybalchenko, a bank worker sheltering on a platform, said: “The whole of Kyiv is in a state of fear.”
She said people at work had been exchanging messages urging one another to take care, adding: “We grabbed our things and came here, we live right next door.”
Russia claims military-industrial targets were hit
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had carried out a “massive strike” using high-precision weapons launched from land, sea and air, alongside drones.
It claimed the attacks had hit military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and several other Ukrainian regions. The ministry said sites linked to the production and storage of Flamingo cruise missiles and medium- and long-range drones had been targeted.
It also reported strikes against port and ship-repair infrastructure in the Odesa region, as well as vessels it alleged were being used in support of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The attacks have also focused on energy infrastructure and transport links, including roads, railways and bridges crossing the Dnipro river. Scheduled power cuts left parts of Kyiv without electricity after Mr Zelensky’s address, as pressure on the damaged grid was eased.
Ukraine’s air force warned that a ballistic missile was heading towards Kyiv, while military monitoring channels said the assault was expected to combine cruise and ballistic missiles with jet-powered drones.
Daria Medvedeva, 36, said children had been frightened by the bombardment. “Whenever there’s heavy shelling, we try to head underground,” she said.
Further casualties were reported in the north-eastern Sumy region, where Ukrainian police said Russian drone attacks killed two men and wounded scores of people. Three children, aged seven, 14 and 16, were among those injured when an apartment building was hit.
Authorities in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia also reported damage to transport infrastructure after a ballistic missile warning. Kyiv’s mayor had warned last week that the capital needed to be on a war footing as attacks intensified against its energy network and bridges.
