More than 50 injured in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv

Emergency staff work at a site of an apartment building damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 13, 2023. © Gleb Garanich, Reuters

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A series of loud explosions could be heard in Kyiv at 3am as the city's air defences were activated for the second time this week. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 10 ballistic missiles toward the capital and all were intercepted by air defences.

However, debris from intercepted missiles fell in the eastern Dniprovskyi district, injuring at least 53 people, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Kitschko said on Telegram. Twenty people including two children were hospitalised while 33 people received medical treatment on the spot.

An apartment building, a private house and several cars caught fire, while the windows of a children's hospital were shattered, Klitschko said. Falling rocket debris also damaged the water supply system in the district.

It wasn't immediately clear what type of missile was used in the attack.

In other parts of Ukraine, 10 Russian drones were shot down, most of them in the Odesa region, the Ukrainian air force said.

On Monday, a Russian missile attack destroyed several homes on the outskirts of Kyiv and left more than 100 households temporarily without electricity.

Wednesday's attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, where he made an impassioned plea to Congress to approve additional aid to fight Russia’s invasion.

Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's chief of staff who was traveling with the president, said the interception of the missiles fired at Kyiv showed how Western support is helping Ukraine resist the Russian aggression.

“The effectiveness of Western weaponry in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers is beyond doubt,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.

As winter sets in and hampers troop movements, allowing little change along the front line, air bombardment plays a growing role in the war. Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia will target energy infrastructure to cause power outages and blackouts like it did last winter.

Cyberattacks are also a busy battleground. Ukrainian telecom provider Kyivstar, which serves more than 24 million mobile customers across the country, said its services were disrupted Tuesday by a “powerful” attack by hackers. It also disrupted the air raid warning system in part of the Kyiv region, according to the head of the Kyiv regional administration, Ruslan Kravchenko.

(AP)