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Russia mounts deadly barrage on Kyiv after vowing revenge for Ukraine attack on bomber fleet Russia mounts deadly barrage on Kyiv after vowing revenge for Ukraine attack on bomber fleet
(30 minutes later)
Four killed and 20 wounded as missiles and drones target Ukrainian capitalFour killed and 20 wounded as missiles and drones target Ukrainian capital
Russia mounted an intense and sustained barrage of Kyiv overnight, with missiles and drones targeting the Ukrainian capital where there was a succession of large explosions, Reuters reporters in the city said. Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at Kyiv overnight, killing four people, after Vladimir Putin vowed to respond to Operation Spider’s Web.
By daybreak on Friday, authorities in Kyiv reported that four people were killed and 20 people had been wounded, of whom 16 had been hospitalised. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia had launched more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles at Ukraine, urging Ukraine’s allies to build pressure on the Kremlin to end its war.
“Four people have been confirmed dead in the capital. Search and rescue operations are ongoing at several locations,” mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. “If someone does not put pressure and gives the war more time to take lives, they are complicit and responsible. We need to act decisively,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on social media.
Operation of the city’s metro transport system was disrupted because a Russian strike had hit and damaged a train between stations, the city’s military administration said. Missiles and drones hammered the Ukrainian capital leading fires to rage through residential buildings and forcing the local metro system to close after a train was hit.
The air attack also triggered fires in residential buildings in different parts of the city, authorities said. It was part of a nationwide assault during which a deadly mix of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Kalibr missiles, and dozens of drones were launched.
The attack came after Russia vowed to take revenge on Ukraine after a drone attack on the country’s bomber fleet. Despite the efforts of Ukraine’s air defences, the authorities in Kyiv reported that four people had been killed and 20 people wounded, of whom 16 had been hospitalised.
Earlier in the night, as the attacks came in, Reuters reporters could hear the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire. “Four people have been confirmed dead in the capital. Search and rescue operations are ongoing at several locations,” Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said on Telegram.
Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact site, and at least one large fire at the site of a drone hit. According to the ministry of internal affairs, three of the four victims were firefighters from the state emergency service who died while responding to the attack. “They were working under fire to help people,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine’s air force said the city had been targeted with drones and Kalibr cruise missiles. Operation of the city’s metro transport system was disrupted after a Russian strike damaged a train travelling between stations, the city’s military administration said.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said drones had struck the upper floors of a high-rise apartment building and started a fire in Darnytskyi district on the east side of the city, where he said emergency power cuts were possible. The air attack also triggered fires in residential buildings in different parts of Kyiv, authorities said.
A residential block in the Solomianskyi district took severe damage to the upper floors with entire windows, balcony frames, and parts of an outer wall blown away.
More than 2,000 households in Kyiv’s eastern bank remained without electricity on Friday morning.
The attack came after Russia vowed to take revenge on Ukraine after Monday’s audacious drone attack on the country’s bomber fleet known as Operation Spider’s Web.
Initially, two TU-95MC and two TU-160MC bombers were deployed by Russia on Thursday night. This was a lower number than had been feared and may have been the result of the Kremlin’s resources being reduced by the events of 1 June. Kalibr missiles were also fired from Russian warships stationed in the Black Sea.
Putin informed the US president, Donald Trump, in a call on Wednesday that Russia would respond to the operation that Ukraine has claimed damaged or destroyed 41 aircraft.
“They went deep into Russia and [Putin] actually told me we have no choice but to attack based on that, and it’s probably not going to be pretty,” Trump had told reporters.
Trump had said it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” rather than pursue peace immediately.
The barrage on Kyiv had begun with the buzz of Russian kamikaze drones followed by Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.
Through the night the city was shaken by large explosions.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said drones had struck the upper floors of a high-rise apartment building and started a fire in Darnytskyi district on the east side of the city.
One unofficial Telegram channel said a shopping centre in the area was ablaze.One unofficial Telegram channel said a shopping centre in the area was ablaze.
Tkachenko said a fire had also broken out in an apartment building in a western district. He said drone fragments had been spotted in three districts. Tkachenko said a fire had also broken out in an apartment building in a western district. Drone fragments were found in three districts.
In one of the most audacious attacks of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia’s strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds. Ukraine’s commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, demanded a strong international response to Russia’s latest attack.
US President Donald Trump said after a phone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on Russian airbases. “Russia is acting like a terrorist, systematically targeting civilian infrastructure,” he wrote on Telegram. “The world must respond clearly and take concrete steps, including condemning the aggressor’s actions.”
On Thursday, Trump said it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” rather than pursue peace immediately. Elsewhere in the country, 10 people were reported injured in the western city of Ternopil, including five emergency workers, the regional governor, Viacheslav Nehoda, said.
Trump voiced doubts about the potential success of peace talks, saying “sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart”. Three people were injured in Ukraine’s central Poltava region after strikes on administrative buildings, warehouses and a cafe. Russian forces also struck the Khmelnytskyi region, damaging a private residential building, outbuildings, and several vehicles.
The US president said he had told Putin that the two countries were like “two young children fighting like crazy in a park” when the two spoke by phone on Wednesday. Air defence forces shot down three Russian missiles over the western Lviv region overnight, according to the regional head, Maksym Kozytskyi.