A young woman shields her pet dog in downtown Kyiv on Friday amid scenes of destruction after a barrage of Russian missiles launched at the capital killed at least one person and injured 11. Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE
Dec. 20 (UPI) — At least one person was killed and 11 injured in Kyiv early Friday in a barrage of missile fire across the Ukrainian capital.
The city was targeted with five Iskander-M or North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles which were all downed by air defenses, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a social media update — but falling debris inflicted casualties and caused widespread damage in several areas.
The fatality occurred in the southeastern Holosiivskyi district where 10 others were hurt after office blocks, residential buildings, a gas pipe and cars were damaged with fears people could be trapped high up in an office building where the 15th floor had sustained damage.
An 11th person was injured in the downtown Shevchenkivskyi district, according to the State Emergency Service which said at least six people had been hospitalized.
Damage to energy infrastructure left more than 45 hospitals and clinics and schools and kindergartens as well 630 residential buildings in the district without heat.
The 115-year-old stained-glass windows of St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cathedral in the center of Kyiv sustained blast damage.
A missile strike sparked a major blaze in a 160,000-square-foot warehouse near Boryspil International Airport in the southwestern suburbs, but firefighters were able to bring it under control before first light.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the missile strikes were revenge for a Ukrainian strike using Army Tactical Missile Systems against a missile fuel plant in its Rostov region in the south of the country on Wednesday.
Ukraine launched a major attack against strategic oil infrastructure in Rostov province in late August — but just miles to the east of Russian-controlled parts of Luhansk Oblast — and using drones, rather than missiles.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s retaliatory actions to Ukrainian strikes deep into its territory would “occur consistently” in line with pledges made by President Vladimir Putin.
“You know that such strikes on Russian territory have been carried out, and you know that the president said that every time there will be a response,” the spokesman said.
“You see that the response is delivered, just as the president said,” he added, referencing Russia’s deployment of more destructive weapons, including its experimental Oreshnik intermediate-range missile in the wake of last month’s U.S. reversal of its prohibition on Ukraine using ATACMS to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Russian missiles and 60 drones were also launched against targets in Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv provinces in the north and Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson provinces the south.
The Kherson military administration said Russian forces used the attack as cover for an unsuccessful push to penetrate the Ukrainian defensive line along the Dnipro River.