Officials say Russian forces have launched a major drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight, killing 13 people.
Several neighbourhoods were evacuated as strikes rocked buildings throughout the city, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia was preparing for a massive attack.
The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko said Children were among the significant number of casualties.
“The enemy is once again deliberately targeting residential areas and killing civilians,” he said early on Thursday. Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed it targeted energy facilities in response to recent Ukrainian strikes.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 74 missiles and 496 drones overnight, mainly targeting the capital.
While the country’s air defences were able to repel most of these, 25 ballistic missiles and 12 drones struck 33 locations.
The sound of the explosions was heard through the night. By 3:30 local time, we had counted 10 significant strikes, with one major fire in the city centre and multiple other blazes in the distance spotted.
Tracer fire from air defence systems kept lighting up the sky, followed by explosions.
On Thursday morning, daylight brought clearer images of a crater which appeared to be caused by the impact of explosions.
Smouldering cars, buildings and infrastructure could also be seen next to bombed-out debris.
Multiple fires broke out across the city and damage was reported at an ambulance station in the city, which left at least one person critically injured.
Firefighters were also dousing a blaze destroying a hotel on a central boulevard.
The country’s state emergency service said 13 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured.
So far 34 people have been rescued, officials said, and rescue operations are ongoing at sites that have been hit, including in a high-rise apartment building and homes in the south-east of Kyiv.
