A new Russian airstrike with drones and missiles against the main cities of Ukraine left at least nine people dead and dozens injured last night. In the capital, the number of dead was four and the injured, about 60, according to the report published on Telegram by its mayor, Vitali Klichkó. In Dnipro, there were five fatalities.
The mayor had previously reported material damage in seven districts of Kyiv, where several residential buildings were hit.
Last night’s attack is the first massive Russian attack against the largest Ukrainian city since Moscow announced at the end of May a campaign of airstrikes against decision-making centers in the capital and advised foreign diplomats accredited in the city to leave for safety reasons.
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The threat came after a drone attack on a student residence in Starobilsk, a city in the Ukrainian province of Luhansk, which is under Russian control. The attack occurred on May 22 and caused 21 deaths. Moscow accuses Kyiv of the massacre, which Kyiv denies. The Ukrainian side claims it attacked a nearby military target, but the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said there are no military facilities in that area.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Monday of a possible large-scale Russian attack and urged citizens to pay special attention to air raid alerts. “Intelligence alerts about Russian attacks remain in effect. A massive attack is possible; they have prepared it,” he said in his nightly video message.
After air raid alerts sounded across much of the country, the population of Kyiv sought shelter in the metro and underground shelters.
“Our defense forces are prepared 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the maximum possible deployment with the available resources,” he added.
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Damaged playgrounds and destroyed residential buildings
In addition to Kyiv, Russia also attacked the cities of Kharkiv, the second largest in the country by population (northeast), and Dnipro (southeast) during the early hours of Tuesday. In the latter, five people have died and more than twenty are hospitalized due to the attack, according to the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, of which Dnipro is the capital, Oleksandr Hanzha.
Hanzha posted on social media severely damaged residential buildings and a destroyed playground.
Klichkó said that in Kyiv a 24-story building collapsed, possibly after being hit by a missile. The mayor said there were probably people trapped under the rubble. Other buildings, such as a nine-story apartment block, caught fire, he added.
“In the Obolon district, several cars are burning after being hit by missile debris. Fires have also been reported in two open areas, one of them near a nursery,” Klichkó said.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terejov, said that ten people were injured in his city, including a minor.
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