Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least two people in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, with the Ukrainian capital rocked by multiple powerful explosions after authorities issued a missile alert. More than 20 blasts were heard on Thursday, according to journalists, after the Ukrainian Air Force warned that Russian ballistic missiles were headed for the city. "Once again, the main targets of (the Russian) attack were Kyiv and civilian infrastructure – residential buildings, a maternity hospital, energy facilities and logistics.
Two people are already known to have been killed," Zelensky wrote on Telegram. In a message on X, Zelensky noted that "Russia will not end this war without pressure. As people were sleeping, flashes from explosions lit up the sky.
Once again, the main targets of their strike were Kyiv and civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, a maternity hospital, energy infrastructure, and logistics." To display this content from X (Twitter), you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. The capital is under ballistic missile attack. Remain in shelters!" Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko wrote in a Telegram message.
The strikes came as Zelensky was meeting members of the US Congress as part of his trip to the United States to request stronger sanctions against Moscow. Read moreZelensky accuses Putin of using nationals of 47 countries to fight Ukraine war The barrage was the latest in an intensifying exchange of long-range attacks, with both Kyiv and Moscow signalling at the UN that they will escalate strikes and dimming prospects for diplomacy. The first days of autumn chill have only barely set in over Kyiv, but winter is already dominating conversations among residents, who are making plans in case Russian strikes once again knock out the energy system.
The shadow of last winter hangs over Kyiv, which was plunged into darkness and bitter cold for weeks when Russian forces struck the country's power and heating infrastructure while temperatures dropped as low as -20C. As Russia stepped up assaults on Kyiv, the question of what to do this winter is particularly pressing for families with children, said Oleksandra Matveieva, founder of a Facebook group for mothers. "Now it seems Russians have started bombing Kyiv heavily," she said.
"Immediately, people, mostly mothers, started writing: 'we're ready to leave anywhere, as long as it's not too far and expensive'." Travel Mama Club, originally founded for travelling mothers before evolving into an advice forum during the war, has recently seen a surge in publications concerning accommodation in relatively safer western Ukraine, or abroad. "People are looking for a Plan B, even booking refundable apartments," she said. "They still don't know yet whether they will actually leave." Russia has over the past month stepped up its attacks on the capital and air raid alerts urging locals to seek shelter due to incoming drones and missiles are now a nightly and, increasingly, daily occurrence.
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