KYIV: At least one citizen was killed and two others were injured as Russia carried missile attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv — the ninth such attacks this month.
According to the BBC, one citizen was killed and two injured in the missile strike in Odesa, a Black Sea port city in the southwest.
Blasts were also heard in the central regions of Vinnytsia, Khmelnitsky, and Zhytomyr.
The Ukrainian military said that preliminary information indicated all incoming missiles had been destroyed.
Ukraine earlier said it shot down 6 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles as part of the “exceptionally dense” attack.
Speaking to the media, Vitali Klitschko, Kyiv’s Mayor, said a fire had broken out in the garage in the Darnitsya location of Kyiv but he added no one had been wounded.
The head of Kyiv’s civilian-military administration said the heavy missile attack had been launched by Russian strategic bombers over the Caspian Sea.
Serhiy Popko said that the attack probably included cruise missiles and that Russia had deployed reconnaissance drones over Kyiv after unleashing its wave of air strikes.
He said the second fire had broken out in the non-residential building in the Desnyansky district to the east of Kyiv but didn’t give an update on if anyone was hurt.
At least eight citizens were reportedly killed – including a five-year-old boy near Kherson – and 17 were wounded by shelling on Wednesday, as both sides traded accusations of striking civilian areas.
Ukraine is getting ready to launch a massive assault on Russia’s invading forces.
Western officials said Ukraine’s military is at “an increased state of readiness” ahead of the long-awaited counter-offensive against Russia’s invasion.
The officials said several of Kyiv’s military capabilities were now “coming together” – including its ability to deploy tanks, fighting vehicles, and combat engineers, as well as clear mines, bridge rivers, and strike long-range targets.
