KYIV, Ukraine -- Sirens rang out shortly after midnight Thursday as Russia targeted Kyiv with a barrage of Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones that wounded two people and destroyed several homes.
Explosions were heard in different parts of the city, and debris from intercepted drones fell on four districts of the Ukrainian capital, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Buildings were damaged, and two people hospitalized with shrapnel wounds. Earlier, the Kyiv City Administration wrote on Telegram that debris fell on five districts.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia fired a total of 20 drones, mostly at the Kyiv region, and that all 20 were shot down. The Ukrainian military also intercepted two cruise missiles. The statement also reported that one ballistic missile was not intercepted, although it did not explain what damage the missile caused.
The government of the region of Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine reported that cruise missile was intercepted over the region, and reported no casualties. “We appreciate the meticulous work of Ukraine’s air defense forces,” the regional administration wrote on Telegram.
Rescuers extinguished a fire in a 16-story building, as well as in a non-residential building, according to the Interior Ministry. Debris also “damaged the facade” of a 25-story apartment building, the ministry wrote.
Volodymyr Motus, a 22-year-old resident of the 25-story building, carefully picked his way across the floor a destroyed apartment, his footsteps accompanied by the sound of shattered glass. The mangled furniture was coated in a thick layer of dust.
“I was in my apartment and suddenly I heard a boom, that’s all. Then the alarm went off and I went down to the shelter.”
He said that some people were injured, but they were all alive.
Russian strikes have come to feel almost routine in Ukraine over the almost 17 months of the war.
In May, Russia launched dozens of drones and missiles at Kyiv almost every night, forcing its residents to spend their nights in shelters. During the summer, attacks came less frequently, but they still strike unpredictably across the country.
Ukraine’s human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets wrote on Telegram Thursday, “It should be explained that each ‘air alarm’ in Ukraine is like playing Russian roulette... It’s unknown the number of people who could be affected, and it is uncertain from which part of Ukraine bad news about the strike of an enemy drone or missile will come.”
Recently, a Russian cruise missile struck an apartment building in the western city of Lviv, resulting in a death toll that reached 10, and leaving dozens injured. And in the southern and eastern regions of the country, where heavy fighting is taking place on front lines, the intensity of missile attacks has remained high since the beginning of the war.
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See AP’s complete coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.
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Associated Press journalist Felipe Dana in Kyiv contributed to this report.
