Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the nearby region for the first time in weeks on Saturday and pounded the east and south of the country with drones, Ukrainian officials said.
Air alerts for Kyiv and a nearby region were announced just minutes before the explosions were heard. City authorities urged residents to stay in shelters.
“Strong explosions were heard on the left bank of the capital,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, referring to the left bank of the river Dnipro.
It was the first attack on Kyiv since late September.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said a Russian ballistic missile was launched toward the capital around 8 a.m. local time.
No major damage reported
“After a long pause of 52 days, the enemy has resumed missile attacks on Kyiv,” Popko said on the Telegram messaging app. “The missile failed to reach Kyiv, air defenders shot it down as it was approaching the capital.”
Popko said there were no casualties or major damage in the capital.
Ruslan Kravchenko, regional governor for the central Kyiv region, said five private houses and several commercial buildings in the area were damaged.
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He said two Russian missiles struck a field between settlements.
Ukraine’s air defenders also shot down 19 Iranian-made “Shahed” drones out of 31 launched by the Russian forces in the overnight attack on southern and eastern regions, the air force said in a statement.
Drones strike on Friday as resources dwindle
Oleh Kiper, Odesa’s regional governor, said the southern region was attacked with missiles and drones on Friday evening and overnight.
The strikes wounded three people and damaged port infrastructure facilities, he said without offering further details.
Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukraine’s ports, including Odesa, and grain infrastructure since July when Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited his southern military headquarters this week as he assesses the state of his country’s forces in Ukraine and the war drags on toward winter.
It was Putin’s second public visit to the headquarters in less than a month. He was accompanied by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, who is the chief of general staff.
After almost 21 months of fighting in Ukraine, both Russia and Ukraine’s military resources have been significantly eroded.
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