Ukraine’s capital Kyiv comes under air attack, several explosions heard

Ukraine’s capital Kyiv came under air attack on Saturday and big explosions were heard, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said, but there was no immediate information on if there were any casualties. It was the first attack on Kyiv since late September by Russian forces. “Strong explosions were heard on in the left bank of the capital,” Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, referring to the left bank of the river Dnipro. “Preliminary, air defence was working against ballistic (missiles),” he said. Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said a Russian ballistic missile was launched toward the capital at about 08:00 am (0600 GMT). “After a long pause of 52 days, the enemy has resumed missile attacks on Kyiv,” Popko said on the Telegram messaging app. “The missile failed to reach Kyiv, air defenders shot it down as it was approaching the capital.” Popko said there were no casualties or major damage reported from the capital. Ruslan Kravchenko, regional governor for the central Kyiv region, said five private houses and several commercial buildings in the area were damaged. He said two Russian missiles struck a field between settlements. Ukraine’s air defenders also shot down 19 Iranian-made “Shahed” drones out of 31 launched by the Russian forces in the overnight attack on southern and eastern regions, the air force said in a statement. Oleh Kiper, Odesa’s regional governor, said the southern region was attacked with missiles and drones on Friday evening and overnight. The strikes wounded three people and damaged port infrastructure facilities, he said without offering further details. Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukraine’s ports, including Odesa, and grain infrastructure since July when Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger. Air alerts for Kyiv and a nearby region were announced just minutes before the explosions were heard. City authorities urged residents to stay in shelters and not venture out. The war in Ukraine, which broke out in February 2022 with Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, shows no sign of ending as both sides intensify attacks to gain control of contested regions.