KYIV - At least three people have been killed in a Russian drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that the dawn raid on the city centre in the early hours of Saturday killed at least three people, revising down an earlier toll of four that had been reported by the city’s military administration.
“Stay in shelters,” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, in a post on Telegram on Saturday morning. He had warned of a “ballistic missile threat” against the capital hours earlier and said air defences were in operation around the city.
Windows were shattered in Shevchenkivskyi district, including those at the entrance of the Lukianivska metro station, which was closed down, according to the mayor.
Shevchenkivskyi area is a busy part of Kyiv with universities, bars and restaurants.
The Russian military said on Saturday that it hit a manufacturer of “long-range rockets” in Kyiv in “retaliation” for Ukraine’s use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory.
At the time of reporting, the attack had not been confirmed by Ukrainian authorities.
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull said explosions were heard at about 6am (04:00 GMT), “reverberating amid a volley of anti-aircraft fire, with air alerts suggesting both ballistic missile and drone threats”.
He said that smoke was seen coming out of a residential building.
Also on Saturday, Russian forces “attacked the centre” of Zaporizhzhia, wounding 10 people, with many possibly “trapped under the rubble”, said Zelenskyy, adding that homes, shops and infrastructure had been damaged.
Later on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that it had destroyed two Iskander ballistic missiles and 24 drones launched as part of the same attack.
Ukrainian counterattacks
The rare strike on the heart of the Ukrainian capital comes in the middle of intensified Ukrainian aerial attacks on Russian energy and military facilities in recent months.
Ukraine’s army has hit several Russian oil depots recently, including two major strikes on a facility near a military airfield in Russia’s Saratov region that triggered days-long blazes.
The country’s military said on Saturday that its drones had sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s Tula region that allegedly provides support to Russia’s army.
The military also reported that it had struck an oil depot in western Russia’s Kaluga region overnight, saying that damage caused to the facility, described as important for Russian military logistics, was still being assessed.
Russia said on Saturday that its forces had captured two villages – Vremivka and Petropavlivka – in the eastern Donetsk region, where its troops have been grinding forwards for months. I aje
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