Kyiv —
A series of strong explosions rocked Kiev over Thursday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that intelligence data showed Russia was planning a “massive” nighttime attack.
Officials in Kiev say Russia has fired ballistic missiles and drones into Ukraine, damaging and setting homes on fire and killing at least one person.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 11 injured people were hospitalized after the attack.
Rescuers rushed to the scene of the destroyed nine-story building, where people were trapped inside, Klitschko said.
He said earlier that an attack on an ambulance camp left a medical worker injured.
President Zelenskiy on Wednesday asked residents to be “extremely careful” and heed air raid sirens, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been preparing a major attack on Ukraine for some time.”
“That is exactly the threat we face tonight,” Zelenskiy said in a post on X.
Some residents crowded into subway stations to take shelter in preparation for the long night sirens that began blaring around 8 p.m. local time.
Ukraine launched an unprecedented drone campaign against Russia last month, targeting energy infrastructure with long-range drone strikes that President Zelenskyy has framed as a key strategy to force Russia to end the war.
One night last week, Russia reported intercepting 660 drones in 12 regions, making this one of the largest attacks on Ukraine since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.
In early June, a Russian attack in central Kiev set fire to Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Ukraine’s famous monastic complex and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
