The attack on Kiev is the ninth time this month that Russian airstrikes have targeted the Ukrainian capital.
Russian missile strikes have once again rocked Ukraine with a reported death in the southern city of Odessa and falling debris from destroyed missiles sparked fires in two districts of the capital Kyiv.
Two other people were also injured in the attack in Odessa, Ukraine’s military government spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk wrote on Telegram on Thursday.
The Ukrainian military reported several explosions in Kiev’s Desnianskyi district and said a fire had broken out at a business in the city’s Darnytskyi district due to falling debris from the shooting of rockets.
The military also reported “cruise missile” attacks in the central Vinnytsia region, and local media reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi, about 100 km further west.
Kiev’s anti-aircraft defenses had launched the airstrike and there were no reports of injuries, said Serhii Popko, head of the city’s civil and military administration, who urged people to stay in bomb shelters.
“A series of airstrikes against Kiev, unprecedented in their strength, intensity and variety, continue,” Popko said.
The city had been attacked by cruise missiles and all were knocked down by air defenses, he said.
Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that a fire had broken out in a garage in the Darnitsya region, and rubble had also fallen in another part of the city. He said there were no casualties in either incident.
The attack on Kiev marks the ninth time this month that Russian airstrikes have targeted the capital, a marked escalation after weeks of lull and ahead of a long-awaited Ukrainian counter-offensive with newly delivered advanced Western weapons.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine had shot down 18 Russian missiles of various types launched in a concentrated attack on Kiev.
Russia had launched six Kinzhal ballistic missiles, nine Kalibr cruise missiles and three land-based Iskander cruise missiles, Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram. The Ukrainian Air Force also shot down six Iranian-made Shahed drones and three reconnaissance drones.
The US-made Patriot missile systems have proved critical in helping to protect Kiev from relentless missile strikes against civilians and infrastructure.
One of only two Patriot systems confirmed to be in Ukraine has been damaged by an unspecified missile that landed nearby, US officials confirmed Wednesday, though they said the missile system was easily repairable and functioning, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
US officials reported that a #Patriot air defense system is operational after Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed Russian missiles strike #Kyiv destroyed the system on May 16. https://t.co/SkJ2rpM2cS https://t.co/Li3iC8ZO70
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 18, 2023
Russia’s defense ministry said on Tuesday that its forces had destroyed a Patriot system in Kiev with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.