Russian Missiles Hit Infrastructure in Kyiv and Kharkiv

Russian missile attacks hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday morning, officials said, and the governor of another region warned that a massive missile strike could follow in the coming hours.

There was series of blasts in Kyiv before the air raid siren even sounded, which is highly unusual. Officials told residents to stay in shelters.

“Explosions in Dniprovskiy district. All agencies heading to the site. Stay in your shelters!” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, has been ‘pounding’ Ukraine’s vital energy infrastructure with missiles and drones since October, causing sweeping blackouts and disruptions to central heating and running water as winter bites.

“Missile attack on critical infrastructure facilities. Details are being checked,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office.

Oleg Synehubov, Kharkiv’s regional governor, said two S-300 missiles struck the city near the Russian border early on Saturday. The attacks “hit critical energy infrastructure and industrial facilities” in the Kharkiv and Chuhuev district of the region, he said.

“Our emergency services units and energy workers are working to liquidate the consequences and stabilise the situation with energy supplies,” he said.

In Kyiv, the mayor said the debris of a missile came down on a non-residential area in the Holosiivskiy district in the west of Kyiv, causing ‘a fire’ but hurting no one.

Residential infrastructure was also hit in the village of Kopyliv in the Kyiv region just outside the capital. The windows and roofs of 18 privately owned houses were shattered or damaged by the blast, Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional governor, said.

The governor of the central Cherkasy region warned that a ‘massive Russian missile strike’ could follow later on Saturday, while the governor of Mykolaiv to the south said that 17 Russian Tupolev warplanes had taken off from their air bases.

Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq