Two people were killed and 13 others were injured in Kyiv after Russian missiles and drones hit sites in Ukraine overnight, including infrastructure and energy sites, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.
The attack on Kyiv was marked by numerous fires and damaged residential infrastructure, including a Kindergarten, according to city officials.
“These strikes were also directed at our military and energy infrastructure,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyryyon told X.
“Russia is now trying to create a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine to coincide with the winter.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Symbiha said that Russian missiles and drones also targeted the power grid, railways and homes in Dnipro, Kharkiv and Sumy.
The president of Ukraine VolOdymyy Zelenskyy met with the ‘Uk countries’ in the UK and Mark Rutte, the general secretary of NATO, accepted the recent actions of Russia as a way to draw to the negotiation table.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement to the Telegraph that overnight attacks were aimed at businesses in Ukraine’s Completa-Industry Infrastructure that supports its operations.
Russia’s defense service said separately that its forces had shot down 121 Ukrainian drones overnight, including seven that were flying towards Moscow.
Zelenskyy Urges Western Air Defense Strategies
Huge clouds of smoke could be seen above Kyani on Saturday morning as firefighters raced to put out the fires on the other side of the town.
As of midday, they had put out one fire in a warehouse with 140,000 items with the help of two helicopters and the fire spread to another building.
Ukrainian President VolOdymyr Zesenskyy said the attack highlighted the importance of Patriot Air Defense systems in protecting Ukrainian cities from ongoing Russian attacks.
“Since the beginning of this year alone, Russia has launched 770 ballistic missiles and more than 50 ‘kinzhal’ missiles to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy told the Telegraph.
“It makes sense because of an attack like that that we pay so much attention to in Patriot programs – to be able to defend our cities in this context.
The Patriot systems have proven to be effective in destroying Russian-made missiles, and Ukraine is currently seeking a contract to purchase 25 Patriot Air Defense systems from the US
“America, Europe and the G7 countries can help ensure that such attacks no longer threaten lives,” Zelenskyy told X.
Ukraine’s Air Force downed four of the nine missiles and 50 of the 62 drones launched in the overnight attack, the Telegraph said.
The Air Force reported five missile strikes and 12 drone hits at 11 sites across the country.
