WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Four killed in intense Russian air attack on Ukraine's capital

Russia mounted an intense missile and drone barrage of the Ukrainian capital overnight, killing at least four people, according to Ukrainian officials, and sending powerful explosions reverberating across the city.

The night of attacks followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via U.S. leader Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back against Kyiv after Ukrainian drones destroyed several of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft in coordinated attacks deep inside Russia.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko indicated the death toll of four could rise, because rescue workers were still looking for people under the rubble of buildings. He also said 20 people were injured, of whom 16 were hospitalised.

Operation of the city's metro transport system was disrupted because a Russian strike had hit and damaged a train between stations, the city's military administration said.

The air attack also triggered fires in residential buildings in different parts of the city, authorities said.

Earlier in the night, as the attacks came in, Reuters reporters could hear the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire.

Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites, and at least one large fire at the site of a drone hit.

Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks.

Ukraine's air force said the city had been targeted with drones and Kalibr cruise missiles.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said drones had struck the upper floors of a high-rise apartment building and started a fire in Darnytskyi district on the east side of the city, where he said emergency power cuts were possible.

Tkachenko said a fire had also broken out in an apartment building in a western district. He said drone fragments had been spotted in three districts.

In one of the most audacious attacks of the war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian spies last weekend destroyed some of Russia's strategic bomber aircraft on the ground using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds.

Trump said after a phone conversation with Putin on Wednesday that the Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine reports major Russian strike overnight

Ukrainian officials have claimed that Moscow launched multiple waves of missile and drone strikes on Kiev and other cities across the country overnight. The Russian Ministry of Defense has yet to comment.

Multiple explosions were reported across several districts of Kiev and its suburbs early Friday morning, with mayor Vitaly Klitschko claiming that the Ukrainian air defenses were engaging incoming missiles and drones. The official initially said that debris fell on the territory of non-residential buildings only. He later claimed that at least four people were killed and 20 injured.

Surveillance footage allegedly captured by a CCTV camera somewhere in the Kiev region appeared to show the moment a US-supplied Patriot air defense system attempted to engage an incoming missile with four interceptors before seemingly being hit.

Blasts were also reported in the western regions of Ternopol and Lviv, in the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, in Kremenchug in central Ukraine, and elsewhere across the country. Multiple blurred out videos shared across Ukrainian social media appeared to show the aftermath of the strikes, but the exact locations and the facilities targeted were hard to verify.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet issued a statement on the incident. Moscow regularly carries out drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure, insisting that its operations do not target civilian facilities – and blaming Kiev for placing its air defenses in densely populated areas.

On Sunday, Ukrainian drones struck multiple Russian airbases in a coordinated assault targeting long-range, nuclear-capable bombers. Moscow said that most of the incoming drones were intercepted, without confirming any irreparable losses or carrying out any immediate military response. Kiev also targeted multiple Russian civilian sites in acts of railway sabotage over the weekend, killing at least seven people and injuring over 120 in what Moscow branded as terrorism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his US counterpart Donald Trump in a phone call on Wednesday that Moscow “will have to respond”to the attack on the Russian nuclear deterrent. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the retaliation would be carried out “when and how our military deems appropriate.”

Reuters/RT