Nine Wounded In Russian Missile Attack On Kyiv

Nine people including a teenage girl were wounded Monday after Ukrainian air defence systems downed two Russian missiles over the capital, sending metal debris crashing to the ground

Kyiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2024) Nine people including a teenage girl were wounded Monday after Ukrainian air defence systems downed two Russian missiles over the capital, sending metal debris crashing to the ground.

AFP journalists saw emergency workers in hard helmets clearing concrete and bent metal from one building ripped open during the attack, the third aerial bombardment of the capital in just five days.

Moscow has escalated its aerial attacks on Kyiv, targeting key infrastructure in the wake of fatal Ukrainian bombardments on Russian border regions.

AFP reporters heard several explosions and air raid sirens in Kyiv almost simultaneously at around 10:30 am (0830 GMT) as officials urged residents to take shelter.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack showed again that Ukraine needed better air defence systems from its allies.

"It means safety for our cities and saved human lives. All of us in the world who respect and protect life need to stop this terror," he wrote on social media.

Emergency services said nine people were wounded, while Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the teenager was among those hospitalised, and two pregnant women had suffered acute stress reactions.

Oksana, a Kyiv resident, was at work when she first heard the air raid sirens and then a blast.

"Before I could do anything, the first explosion hit," she told AFP. "There was a cloud of dust, smashed cars, windows, everything."

The head of Kyiv's military administration, Sergiy Popko, said Russia had attacked with two ballistic missiles launched from the annexed Crimean peninsula.