Russian Drone and Missile Strikes on Ukrainian Capital Kill 2 People, Ending Pause in Attacks

Kyiv: Two people were killed and at least 10 injured after Russia struck the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with drones and missiles overnight on Tuesday, local authorities said.

The attack comes after a pause over the weekend as U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Kyiv for their first official visit in a renewed push to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The main targets of the overnight attack were Kyiv and the southern Odesa region. Ukrainian forces shot down and suppressed two ballistic missiles, 31 cruise missiles and 142 drones. Hits were recorded in 29 locations, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram that the attack was complex and appeared deliberately designed to cause maximum damage, involving ballistic and cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles and Shahed drones. The attack caused significant damage to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, he said.

Strikes also hit critical infrastructure in several other regions. In Odesa, a regular market was hit and in Kharkiv, two people were injured and a multistory building was damaged, Zelenskyy said.

In the Sumy region, a train locomotive operating on the Kyiv-Sumy route was attacked at a railway station, Zelenskyy said. Zaporizhzhia and the Dnipropetrovsk regions also came under attack, he said.

Damage and fires occurred in at least five districts of the capital, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said, while a statement on Telegram by the Kyiv City Military Administration said damage to civilian infrastructure was located in at least 16 locations.

A 26-story, non-residential building was hit in the Holosiivskyi district. At another location in the same district, a fire broke out and the flames spread to a nearby non-residential building. Rescuers saved one person during a search and two people were evacuated from an apartment in a 16-story, residential building.

People also were trapped in a five-story, residential building in the Solomianskyi district. At least 10 people were rescued, according to the emergency service, which said fires also were recorded in the Darnytskyi and Podilskyi districts.

Kyiv resident Iryna Barisenkova, 61, said she heard explosions while traveling on public transport and was told there was a large fire near the Darnytskyi Vehicle Repair Plant, or DVRZ, area on the capital’s left bank.

“Everything was thundering on the left bank,” Barisenkova said. “It was just brutal.”Barisenkova said she slept well during the previous two nights while Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Kyiv and then stayed in the city. “We got some rest, thanks to them,” she said. “Let them come more often so they don’t shell us.”

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