Russian attack on Ukraine kills at least 11 and traps others in damaged buildings
Ukrainian authorities say Russia attacked the country with a barrage of missiles and drones overnight, killing at least 11 people, injuring dozens and trapping others
KYIV, Ukraine -- Russia attacked Ukraine with a barrage of missiles and drones overnight, killing at least 11 people, injuring dozens and trapping others, authorities said on Tuesday.
Russia unleashed 73 missiles and 656 drones across Ukraine, according to the country’s air force, with the main targets including Kyiv, the central city of Dnipro, and the eastern cities of Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed and suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones.
Hits of 30 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and 33 drones were recorded at at least 38 locations. Debris from destroyed drones fell on 15 locations, the air force said.
At least four people were killed in Kyiv and 63 people were injured, including three children, Ukraine's state emergency service said in a statement on Telegram. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in eight of Kyiv's districts.
In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, at least six people were killed and 36 others injured after Russian strikes hit the city of Dnipro, according to the emergency service. A second attack as first responders arrived at the scene killed one rescuer.
In Kharkiv, at least 14 people were injured and residential homes, garages and cars were damaged.
A two-story residential building and part of a four-story apartment block were damaged, with people trapped beneath the rubble of the larger building.
The boom of explosions echoed through most of the night and into the early morning. Kyiv had been bracing for another mass attack for days, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was preparing a renewed assault and urged people to remain cautious and seek shelter during air raid alerts.
In the Podilskyi district, there was partial damage to the upper floors of a nine-story building, trapping people under the rubble. Rescue operations were still underway in the early hours of the morning, even as the air raid alert remained in effect.
In the Solomianskyi district, a 20-story building and a 24-story building were damaged.
Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her husband Yevhen, 64, were injured in their apartment in Kyiv's Podilskyi district during the attack.
“I went out into the corridor with the phone, and before I understood what happened, everything fell on my head, the glass, and the door blew off," said Dniprovska, dried blood streaked across her face and a bandage wrapped around her chin. “I ran out into the front door and started calling my husband from the room, but he was also blown out by the blast wave.”
“Now I have nowhere to live, the apartment is completely destroyed, no doors, no windows, no balcony. You can step straight from the room out onto the street,” she said.
Ukrainian officials have been pressing allies for more air defense missiles to counter Russia’s ballistic missile attacks. While Ukraine continues to intercept a high percentage of drones, ballistic missiles remain a major vulnerability for the country’s air defenses.
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