By Russian missile strikes kill 13 in Kyiv and surrounding region, power supply cut to 50,000 homes
In short:
At least 13 people have died after Russian ballistic missiles damaged buildings and severed the power supply to some parts of Kyiv, officials say.
A fire broke out on the upper floors of a nine-storey residential block in the city’s Solomianskyi district, where seven people were killed.
What’s next?
Ukraine is awaiting a response after it handed proposals to US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for a plan to end the war.
Russian ballistic missiles have killed at least 13 people and injured more than 30 in Kyiv, authorities say, damaging buildings and severing power supply to some parts of the Ukrainian capital.
A fire broke out, and the upper floors of a nine-storey residential block were destroyed in the city’s Solomianskyi district, where seven people were killed, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, calling for Friday to be observed as a day of mourning.
Two other districts also suffered damage, Mr Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, with non-residential facilities, warehouses, a school and a children’s hospital hit.
Power company DTEK said it restored electricity to more than half of the roughly 90,000 homes left without power in the capital following the attack.
Russia has intensified its air strikes on Ukraine over the summer. (Reuters: Anatolii Stepanov)
“There used to be a building here, and now it’s gone,” said 45-year-old resident Maria Abramova.
She had only just reached her children’s room after the air raid alert sounded when explosions rang out, blowing her windows out and “nearly killing” her husband.
Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukraine in recent months, trying to exploit its smaller neighbour’s critical shortage of interceptors to down ballistic missiles.
The Russian defence ministry said Moscow attacked Kyiv and the surrounding region with air strikes and drones, hitting facilities producing drone components, a military depot and a logistics hub, as well as other targets.
A woman in Kyiv reacts after finding out her grandson has died in the Russian attacks. (Reuters: Anatolii Stepanov)
A resident reported hearing more than a dozen explosions. In the region around the Ukrainian capital, another person was killed, an official said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s emergency service showed video of servicemen battling a blaze in a building and helping people to escape facilities destroyed during the night in Kyiv.
Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russia, targeting oil facilities and logistics infrastructure to try to undermine Moscow’s ability to wage war.
Smoke rises from a food warehouse hit by a Russian missile strike near Kyiv. (Reuters: Valentyn Ogirenko)
Diplomatic efforts have failed so far to yield a lasting ceasefire in the war, which started with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A drone crashed into NATO and European Union member Romania during the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Romanian defence ministry said on Thursday. A drone also crossed Moldova’s airspace, the country’s military said.
Ukraine had handed proposals to US negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, for a plan to end the war, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this month, and he has also repeatedly asked for interceptor missiles to ward off missile attacks.
Russia did not receive specific proposals for possible new meetings with US negotiators, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Izvestia newspaper.
But she added that Moscow would be ready to arrange a meeting at short notice.
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner were last in Moscow last January and have not yet visited Kyiv.
Wires/ABC
Originally published on www.abc.net.au — View original