A devastating Russian drone strike killed a 15-year-old girl in Kyiv, Ukraine, as a night-time barrage on the Ukrainian capital lasted for hours, according to local officials. The attack, which targeted a 25-storey apartment block in the city’s west, also injured five others and left 100 people evacuated. Ukrainian air defences shot down “up to a dozen” Russian drones, but the missile and drone attack continued unabated, with Russian forces launching a total of 91 drones and seven missiles at Ukrainian territory.
In addition to the attack on Kyiv, a separate missile strike hit a residential area in the central city of Dnipro, killing a 14-year-old and four others, and injuring at least 21 others, including an eight-year-old and teenagers. The wife and teenage daughter of a local policeman were pulled dead from the rubble, and the attack damaged more than a dozen apartment buildings, private houses, and a medical facility.
The attack on Dnipro was one of several strikes that targeted civilian areas in Ukraine, including a village in the southern Kherson region, where a Russian drone dropped explosives, killing a man and woman. Two people in their 60s were also killed by shelling in the Kharkiv province in the north east. In a separate incident, flying debris from a drone attack killed a woman in the Kyiv province, and a 13-year-old boy was wounded elsewhere in the region.
Russian Drone Strikes Kill Teenager in Kyiv, Ukraine (Image via Getty)
The strikes came as Russian forces continued their campaign in Ukraine’s industrial east, capturing the hamlet of Oleksandropil in the Donetsk region. However, Moscow’s troops have struggled to push Ukrainian forces out of its Kursk border region following an incursion almost three months ago.
The drone and missile attacks, which continued into the early hours of Saturday, were part of a seven-and-a-half-hour barrage on Kyiv, with air raid sirens wailing throughout the night. The Ukrainian air force reported that 44 of the 91 drones launched by Russia were shot down, and in Russia, air defence brought down 17 Ukrainian drones over four regions near the border.
The attack on Kyiv was one of the most significant in recent weeks, and comes as Russia continues to escalate its military campaign in Ukraine. The strikes have caused widespread destruction and loss of life, with thousands of civilians forced to flee their homes. As the conflict grinds on, the international community is increasingly divided over how to respond to Russia’s aggression, with some calling for stronger sanctions and others urging a diplomatic solution.
