Russia carried out one of the largest airstrikes on Ukraine in recent months last night, just hours before Britain and Germany were to chair a meeting to discuss US President Donald Trump's plans for NATO allies to provide weapons to Kiev, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The attack killed two people and wounded 15, including a 12-year-old child, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
A drone struck the entrance to a metro station in the “Shevchenkivskyi“ district of the Ukrainian capital. Footage posted on social media showed smoke billowing from the station as dozens of people were inside. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the station had to be ventilated with additional ventilation equipment.
The heaviest strikes were directed at the Darnytskyi district, where fires broke out in a kindergarten, a supermarket and warehouses.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Kyiv today and visited some of the affected areas.
The hours-long drone and missile attack on Kyiv last night highlighted Ukraine's urgent need for more Western military aid, especially air defense, a week after Trump said supplies would begin arriving in Ukraine within days, the AP notes.
Zelensky wrote in an article in Ex that in addition to the capital, the city of Kharkiv in the northwestern part of the country was also attacked, as well as Ivano-Frankivsk in the western part of the country, near the border with Poland.
Local media, quoted by DPA, reported that several people were killed and injured in Ivano-Frankivsk.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked Ukraine last night with 426 drones and decoys. They said that five hypersonic "Dagger" missiles and 19 cruise missiles of various types were also used.
The Air Force said that it had shot down or diverted 403 drones and decoys from their target using electronic warfare. They said that most of the missiles had also been neutralized.