Ukraine’s capital Kiev was hit four times on Monday morning (October 17th) by a “deadly drone” attack that damaged a residential building and targeted a train station, Ukrainian officials said. Exactly one week after a series of Russian strikes on the capital of Ukraine, several very strong explosions were heard. At least six people were killed in Kyiv and other regions.
“At 09:00 (08:00) four strikes were recorded in Kyiv. A residential building was hit in the Shevchenko district. We are in the process of verifying information about the victimssaid the military of the capital.
A fire has been declared
Shortly before the first explosion, air strike signals sounded. “The capital was attacked by deadly dronesImmediately after the explosions, Andriy Yermak, the head of the Cabinet of the Presidency of Ukraine, said on Telegram. The management of the National Rail Services previously confirmed that attacks had taken place.approxfrom the central station.
“At the moment, the number of people killed as a result of a drone attack on a residential building (in Kyiv) has reached three.Kirylo Tymoshenko, an official of the President of Ukraine, said in “Telegram”. An AFP reporter saw one of the drones descend on a building in the Ukrainian capital as two kneeling policemen tried to shoot it down with their service weapons, and several very loud explosions were heard, echoing previous Russian strikes on Kiev. a week later. .
The mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, noted later in the morning that a pregnant woman died as a result of a strike against this residential building in the center of the city, which partially collapsed. “During the search and rescue operations (…) the bodies of three dead civilians were taken out“, he said. “Among them are young spouses, spouses who were expecting a child. She was 6 months pregnant“, he elaborated.
“Hundreds of settlements are without electricity”
According to Prime Minister Denis Chmigal, “power plants and a residential building were damaged“. Targeted in the Sumi region “missile attacks“According to Denis Chmigal, at this stage three deaths were registered by the governor of the region, Dmytro Zhivitsky. “At 05:20 (02:20 GMT), three Russian missiles hit civilian infrastructure.“, he said. Before adding:At least three people died. Nine are injured“.
The Russian side struck on Monday morning.energy infrastructureMultiple power outages occurred in three regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, as well as Dnipropetrovsk (center-east) and Sumy (north-east) regions, Denys Chmygal reports. “Hundreds of settlements are without electricity“, he said.
“All services are currently working (…) to restore power“He assured, asking the population of these three marzes.save electricity consumption, especially during peak hours“. Dnipropetrovsk region (center-east) was also affected “our soldiers shot down three enemy missiles“, the presidency of Ukraine added, however.the missile hit an energy infrastructure facility“, he clarified.
Strong reactions
Ukraine asked the EU on Monday for more sanctions against Iran, after Russia is accused of using Iranian-made equipment for its bombings. it is necessary”impose sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with drones– the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmitry Kuleba confirmed on Twitter.
Andri Yermak considered that these Russian attacks are part of “despairand called for immediate support for Ukrainian air defense, claiming:more weapons to defend the sky and destroy the enemy“. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social networks “The enemy may attack our cities, but they will not be able to break us“.
After these attacks, the presidential advisor Mykhailo Podoliak urged on Twitter to exclude Russia from the G20 to be held in Indonesia.Those who give the order to attack critical infrastructure (…) and who organize a general mobilization to cover the front line with corpses cannot sit at the same table with the leaders of the G20. Russia should be excluded“.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called “de-escalation“:”We have information from our partners who are there about drone attacks, and it is very important that civilian infrastructure is not targeted, and that is very difficult in densely populated areas.“.
protect the sky
On Monday, October 10, Russian bombing hit Kiev and other Ukrainian cities on a scale unprecedented in months, killing at least 19 people, injuring 105 and sparking international outrage. They were launched in response to a massive explosion that partially destroyed the Crimean Bridge, an iconic and strategic structure linking Russian territory to the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. Kyiv has neither admitted nor denied its involvement.
Last week, Russian strikes targeted critical Ukrainian infrastructure, particularly the country’s energy facilities, which are often far from the frontline. According to the Ukrainian presidency, in addition to missiles, drones supplied to Russia by Iran were also used for these attacks. In response to last week’s bombings, the biggest in months, Ukraine’s western allies have promised it more air defense systems.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said from Astana that he was satisfied with these massive strikes and judged that new large-scale bombing of Ukrainian cities was not necessary.for the moment“. Russia is on the defensive along most of Ukraine’s front, retreating in the north, east and south since September. In an attempt to reverse the trend, Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists, in other words, civilians, to the front in late September.
Source: Le Figaro
