Air raid sirens blare across Ukraine as Russian forces target Kyiv

Ukraine woke up on the morning of Friday to air raid sirens reverberating across the country that is currently under attack, with enemy Russian forces specifically zeroing in on the capital, Kyiv. The city's mayor also reported explosions and urged residents to brace for incoming drone strikes. "There were explosions in the city. The air defense is working. Another wave of UAVs is heading for Kyiv," Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

A live map put up on the website of the Ministry of Digital Transformation displays the entirety of the war-torn nation under an air raid alert. Just a day before, a missile attack jolted the Ukrainian capital, killing three people including a minor. The 9-year-old victim was reportedly struggling to enter a bomb shelter that was temporarily closed, CNN reported. 

Deadly missile strike hits Kyiv

Ihor Klymenko, the Ukrainian minister of internal affairs, said that a full-blown investigation was launched for “negligence that caused grave consequences”. Yaroslav, the partner of one of the victims, narrated the horrifying incident. “People knocked... They knocked for a very long time... There were women, children. No one opened. My wife and child [were there]. The child is fine, but my wife died," he said.

“I just ran to the other side, calling for them to open. And just at that moment everything happened, at that moment something flew - I don't know, fragments or something,” he added. Another eyewitness named Kateryna Didukh said: “They ran here to hide but unfortunately it was closed. This is the largest bomb shelter. They were all standing at the entrance. There is a polyclinic and a kindergarten here, and it fell right between them.”

In recent days, attacks have grown rampant on both sides of the border. In Russia, dozens of strikes were carried out in the Belgorod region allegedly by Ukrainian forces. In the western region of Kursk, the governor said that Moscow's troops had shot down multiple Ukrainian drones.