Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv kills at least 17

Russia has attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least 17 people and leaving at least 44 injured, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In one of the deadliest strikes across Kyiv this year, which started after midnight on Wednesday, the head of the city’s military administration, Timur Tkachenko, said the “enemy is once again massively attacking”.

Air raid alerts were in place for more than an hour as the capital’s military administration said the barrage damaged residential buildings and warehouses.

Ukraine has urged allies for more US-made Patriot missile interceptors to defend against Russian ballistic attacks.

The Russia defence ministry said it had struck logistics hubs and supply centres in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

“These centres were involved in the storage, delivery of various weapons and military supplies, as well as in the production and distribution of unmanned aerial vehicles,” it said.

It also said it had also hit three cargo vessels “which were transporting weapons and military equipment” near the Black Sea port of Odesa.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said there were fears people could be trapped under rubble after strikes on the centre of the city.

He noted on Telegram that four of the injured people were in serious condition.

“The enemy is once again deliberately striking civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Kyiv’s military administration said.

Ukraine’s air force did not report intercepting any missiles during the attack, saying in a post on Telegram that Russia had launched 24 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles.

It added that 115 drones had been launched by Russia during the attack and air defence systems intercepted 98 of them.

Russia has intensified attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, while Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, including power facilities.

Dmitry Milyaev, the governor of Russia’s Tula region, said on Wednesday that a drone had crashed into a warehouse of e-commerce giant Wildberries in the region overnight and caused a fire.

He said on Telegram that one person had been injured and there had been no deaths reported, with the retailer saying firefighting teams were working at the site and the facility had been evacuated pre-emptively.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted warehouses, including those operated by Wildberries. Five people were killed and 10 wounded in the Moscow region on Tuesday morning in the most recent strikes on warehouses.

The day before, Russian officials said seven people were killed and 58 injured after a drone hit a busy beach in the southern Krasnodar region.

Ukraine, meanwhile, expressed outrage over a video showing a man chased by a drone in Kherson, calling it a deliberate “hunt” and “safari” targeting civilians.

Both sides have denied deliberately targeting civilians.