Russia’s second missile assault on Kyiv this week injured at least 53 people, damaging homes and a children’s hospital, Ukrainian officials said yesterday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded in Washington for more help for his country.
The windows of residential apartment blocks were blown out and frightened residents streamed out onto the street to assess the damage. Missile debris blew a large crater in the ground and destroyed parked cars.
Ukraine’s air defense systems downed all 10 ballistic missiles aimed at the capital at about 3am, the Ukrainian Air Force wrote on Telegram.
Photo: AFP
Falling debris caused injuries and destruction in four of Kyiv’s districts along the Dnipro River, which flows through the capital, officials said.
Thirty-five buildings were damaged, the city’s military administration said.
Ukraine’s national police said 53 people, including six children, had been injured by the attack. Eighteen people had been hospitalized, it said on social media.
General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces identified the projectiles as Iskander-M ballistic missiles, as well as S-400s — extremely fast missiles intended for air defense, but which have also been used to hit ground targets.
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, praised Western-supplied air defense systems and their operators after Ukraine downed all 10.
“The effectiveness of Western weapons in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers cannot be doubted,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
Windows and entrances were shattered by debris at a children’s hospital in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district, but based on initial assessments, there were no casualties, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram.
Debris also hit several residential buildings in the Dniprovskyi district.
Kyiv military administration chief Serhiy Popko said 17 people, including seven children, were evacuated from a residential building in the Dniprovskyi district after debris hit a building and nearby vehicles, causing a fire.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden warned Republicans that they would be giving Russia a “Christmas gift” if they failed to provide additional military aid to Zelenskiy, whose meeting with a top US lawmaker concluded without a commitment for more support.
There was no comment from Russia about the attack yesterday.
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