KIEV (Reuters) – Russia launched a New Year's Day drone strike on the Ukrainian capital Kiev early on Wednesday, killing two people, wounding at least six others and damaging buildings in two areas, authorities said.
Explosions rang out in the morning sky as the Ukrainian air force warned of incoming drones and mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defenses were fending off a hostile attack.
The state emergency service said that two floors of a residential building in central Kiev were partially destroyed in the attack. She added that two people were killed.
Pictures published by the agency showed firefighters clearing a dilapidated corner of the building and rescuers helping elderly victims.
The National Bank of Ukraine said in a statement that one of its nearby buildings was damaged by debris from a downed drone. Authorities said the debris also damaged a non-residential building in a different neighborhood.
“Until New Year’s Eve, Russia was only interested in how to hurt Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media in response to the strike.
The Ukrainian army said that it shot down 63 out of 111 drones launched by Russia during the night across different regions of Ukraine. It added that 46 other aircraft were shot down due to electronic interference.
Russia carries out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities beyond the front line of its nearly three-year-old invasion, in which its forces seize village after village in an accelerating march across eastern Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Russian forces fired 21 missiles at Kiev and the northern Sumy region during a night raid, damaging buildings and infrastructure in the city of Shostka.
In a separate incident, city officials said on Wednesday that a 23-year-old volunteer worker was killed in Russian bombing in the city of Kherson, located on the front line in the south of the country.
