Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least three people including two children and bringing fresh terror to the city after a week of strikes.
Moscow’s forces have recently launched a series of aerial assaults on the Ukrainian capital, including an unusual daytime attack on Monday that sent residents running for shelter.
Thursday’s attack began around 3:00 am local time (0000 GMT) when cruise and ballistic missiles were fired on the city, killing three people and injuring 10 others, officials said.
“Among the three dead in the Desnyansky district, there were two children (aged 5-6 and 12-13),” the Kyiv City Military Administration wrote on Telegram.
In Russia’s western Belgorod region, at least two people were wounded Thursday morning in an attack blamed on Ukrainian troops, governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
“This night is tense for Shebekino again. Ukrainian troops were shelling the city for an hour,” he said.
Russia said Wednesday it was evacuating hundreds of children from villages due to intensifying shelling in the border region of Belgorod, where the situation was deemed “alarming” by the Kremlin.
More than a year since its Ukraine invasion, Russia has suffered stepped-up attacks on its soil, with an unprecedented incursion last week in Belgorod and a drone attack on Moscow Tuesday.
Authorities had begun evacuating children from the border districts of Shebekino and Graivoron, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
“The question of children’s safety in the two districts… is very important,” Gladkov said. “All of us, adults, are very worried.”
Tensions between Russia and the West escalated further Wednesday, when Germany announced it would drastically reduce Moscow’s diplomatic presence on its soil in reply to a similar move from the Kremlin.
Moscow called Germany’s decision “ill-thought-out” and vowed a response.
And in the United States, the Pentagon announced a new $300 million arms package for Ukraine, including air defense systems and tens of millions of rounds of ammunition.
