1 of 2 | At least 53 people were injured after a Russian missile strike targeting Kyiv overnight on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. Photo by Oleg Petrasyuk/EPA-EFE
Dec. 13 (UPI) — Ukrainian officials said Wednesday morning that Moscow launched an overnight attack on the capital of Kyiv, injuring 53 people.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said air defenses shot down all 10 missiles, but the Russian attack still left 20 people hospitalized while also damaging a residential building, private houses, a hospital and vehicles.
Officials said that missile debris in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv damaged the facade of a high-rise building, and one of the balconies caught fire. Firefighters rescued 17 people from the building, including seven children.
A residential building in the Darnytskyi region also caught fire but was extinguished by the morning.
Ukraine‘s Emergency Service also reported falling rocket debris in the northeastern Desnianskyi and southwestern Holosiivskyi districts of Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude to the Air Defense Forces while vowing “a response” against Russia.
“Russia has proven once again that it is a heinous country that fires missiles at night, trying to hit residential areas, kindergartens and energy facilities during the winter,” he said.
The Russian missile barrage, its second against Kyiv this week, came as Ukrainian Zelensky concluded a visit to the United States where he met with members of Congress and President Joe Biden in hopes of securing more aid for its effort to combat Russia’s advances.
“We keep working to enhance our capabilities, and we have powerful new agreements. We are working to expedite their implementation,” Zelensky said following the attack. “President Biden and I just agreed to work on increasing the number of air defense systems in Ukraine, and the terrorist state demonstrated how critical this decision is.”
Zelensky said that each additional system and missile will be vital for Ukraine as its military tries to blunt repeated attacks from a more aggressive Kremlin.