Russia fires missiles on Kyiv in rare daytime attack

AFP | Moscow

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com    

Russia fired a barrage of missiles at Kyiv yesterday sending panicked residents running for shelter in an unusual daytime attack on the Ukrainian capital following overnight strikes.

A series of explosions rang out in Kyiv yesterday as Russia targeted the city for the second time in 24 hours.

AFP journalists heard at least 10 explosions from around 11:10 am local time (0810 GMT) in Kyiv, starting just a few minutes after an air raid warning sounded. Authorities said Ukrainian air defences had downed every Russian missile launched against the Kyiv region.

“A total of 11 missiles were fired : ‘ Is kander- M ’ and ‘Iskander-K’ from a northerly direction,” Ukraine’s armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny said.

“All the targets were destroyed by air defences,” he added. Sergiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s city administration, said that Russians struck in the morning when “most residents were at work and on the streets”.

“The Russians are clearly demonstrating that they are aiming to destroy the civilian population,” he said on Telegram. “Debris was recorded falling in different parts of the city,” Popko said, adding that information on casualties was currently being clarified.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said earlier in the day one person had been hospitalised. People ran to take shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv as volleys of loud explosions were heard, AFP journalists said.

Many residents had become used to ignoring air raid sirens but the heavy barrage prompted a panicked reaction.

Down on the platform of the Khreshchatyk metro station, people stood and sat on steps checking their mobile phones. “I saw 6,7 or 8 -- a certain number of explosions in the sky. That’s why I came here with my work colleagues,” said Maksym, a plumber, sitting on the steps. “I’m waiting for the air raid to end.”