Firefighters work at the site where an industrial area was hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv region yesterday. (Reuters)
Russia escalated its attacks on Kyiv early yesterday, launching waves of drones and missiles in its first combined aerial assault on the capital in more than 70 days, authorities said. The attacks came as Washington and Seoul echoed warnings from Ukraine that North Korean troops had begun “engaging in combat operations” alongside Russian forces on the border between the warring countries. Ukraine’s air force said its units had downed four missiles and 37 drones launched by Russia over eight regions of Ukraine overnight and into last morning. “It is important that our forces have the means to defend the country from Russian terror,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in response to the attack. Ukraine has for months been appealing to its Western allies to provide more air-defence systems to fend off Russian attacks on cities and critical infrastructure. The large-scale bombardment comes at a critical moment on the battlefield. Russian forces are advancing in the east and concerns are growing over future aid for Ukraine after Donald Trump’s victory in US presidential elections. AFP journalists heard explosions ring out over Kyiv and saw dozens of residents seeking shelter in an underground metro station in the centre of the capital. Kyiv officials said one man was wounded by falling debris from a downed drone in the suburb of Brovary, while emergency services distributed images of firefighters battling flames at one impact site. A separate drone attack in the Ukrainian-controlled southern region of Kherson, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia, killed a 52-year-old woman, the regional head said. Multiple air raid sirens rang out early yesterday as authorities said missiles were closing in on Kyiv, which was home to nearly three million people before Russia invaded in February 2022. “As missiles were approaching Kyiv, the enemy simultaneously launched a ballistic missile attack on the capital. The enemy attack ended with another drone strike,” city authorities said. The attack is the latest in an uptick in escalating strikes on Ukrainian cities, mainly in the south of the war-battered country. A Russian strike this week on Kryvyi Rig, Zelensky’s hometown, killed a 32-year-old mother and her three children. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied its forces target civilians in Ukraine, a claim its spokesman repeated yesterday in response to a question over whether Russian forces were working to minimise civilian casualties. Over the weekend, Moscow and Kyiv launched record overnight drone attacks on each other.
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