Kyiv, July 3:
Russia hammered Kyiv in a major drone and missile attack overnight into Thursday morning, killing at least 17 civilians and injuring scores more in what Moscow described as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on oil facilities that have caused fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.
Loud explosions shook the Ukrainian capital for hours during the night, with many people sheltering at subway stations after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other authorities issued the first warnings of an incoming attack. Emergency crews were still digging through the rubble of collapsed and charred apartment buildings in search of victims as dawn broke.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the deadly bombardment was in response to Ukraine’s long-range strikes on its civilian infrastructure. Ukraine’s increasingly frequent and large-scale attacks described by Zelenskyy as a 40-day blitz have especially targeted oil refineries, causing a fuel crisis that has frustrated Russians, more than four years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
The attack killed 17 people in Kyiv and injured more than 90 others, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said it was a ânight of horrorâ in the capital.
A residential apartment building is seen damaged after a Russian strike on Kyiv, Ukraine.(Photo: AP)
Damage was recorded in 30 locations across the city, mainly residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Some 20 residential buildings were damaged, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.
Kyiv resident Serhii Budko said three or four ballistic missiles hit his district of the city. âWe were inside the shelter and felt the shelter shaking â the ceiling and floor, everything,â the 24-year-old told The Associated Press. In Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district, people were trapped inside a damaged nine-story residential building and rescuers were at the scene, Klitschko said. In the Darnytskyi district, six levels of a nine-story building collapsed.
In the Holosiivskyi district, a fire broke out on the roof of a 16-story building, according to the Emergency Service, which said it deployed nearly 500 personnel and 100 specialized vehicles.
A woman looks at an apartment building burning after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine
A woman looks at an apartment building burning after a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine(Photo: AP)
Top Ukrainian diplomat urges countries to provide more air defenses
The attack used âhigh-precision long-range weaponsâ and drones on âmilitary industry facilities and fuel and energy complexes in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, as well as military airfield infrastructure in four other regions of Ukraine,â the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement said.
It published a list of targets it said the barrage hit, mostly plants manufacturing and assembling Ukrainian drones, missiles and components. Russia fired 74 missiles, 24 of them ballistic, and 496 drones of various types in the attack, Ukraine’s air force said.
Ukraine’s air defenses have improved throughout the war, especially in countering Russian drones. But ballistic missiles are harder to stop, and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly pleaded with partner countries to supply more Patriot missile systems that offer the best protection.
Sybiha urged countries not to delay decisions on supplying air defense systems and missiles. He rejected any Russian attempts to justify the strikes as retaliation for Ukraine’s long-range attacks, saying Ukraine was exercising its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter while Russia remained the aggressor.
Sybiha said on X that the death toll may rise as rescue teams continue their work.