First major rocket attack on Kiev in weeks

After several weeks of relative calm, Russia has attacked the Ukrainian capital again: According to Ukrainian information, more than 30 projectiles were fired at Kiev, and several people were apparently injured.

The Ukrainian capital Kiev was again the target of Russian missile attacks during the night and early morning. Explosions were heard in the city – eyewitnesses also reported explosions of anti-aircraft missiles.

The Ukrainian armed forces reported firing at least 30 rockets. According to the Ukrainian army, after a break of several weeks, Russia again used strategic bombers that launched longer-range missiles – “Kinshal” missiles that were difficult to intercept were also used.

“After a break of 44 days, the enemy launched another missile attack on Kiev,” said the head of the Kiev military administration, Serhiy Popko. The city was shot at from different directions.

Klitschko: At least ten injured

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that rocket parts had fallen in several parts of the city – a kindergarten was also hit. Several cars and a substation caught fire. According to Klitschko, at least ten people were injured in the attacks. People sought shelter in the capital’s subway, as seen in images and videos on social networks.

Previously, attacks were also reported in the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine.

Dead in Kharkiv

The situation in the Russian-Ukrainian border area in the Belgorod and Kharkiv regions remains tense. Here the mutual attacks continue. A Russian missile killed at least five people in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed dismay in his evening video address: “For more than two years, Kharkiv and the region have been subjected to terrible Russian attacks,” he said. But Wednesday’s deadly attack will only cause Ukraine to react even more forcefully.

Crisis measures announced for Belgorod

According to the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, two men were killed in the Russian Belgorod region on Wednesday. In the early hours of the morning he reported another missile alarm. He announced crisis measures for his area. Because supplies are deteriorating, food should be distributed.

Checkpoints would be set up in seven districts near the border to regulate access to towns. In these districts and in the regional capital Belgorod, school holidays should also start early. In any case, around 9,000 children from the region are to be brought to safety, the first 1,200 of them on Friday.

Apparently pro-Ukrainian fighters on Russian soil

On Wednesday, Russian media, citing the Defense Ministry, reported that Russian forces had driven Ukrainian troops out of the border village of Kosinka in the Belgorod region.

The region has been under attack for days by pro-Ukrainian forces – among them, according to their own statements, are armed groups of Russian Kremlin opponents – Legion Freedom for Russia, the Siberian Battalion and the Russian Volunteer Corps. The groups shared photos and videos from Kosinka and the surrounding area on their Telegram channels.