KYIV: Russia launched waves of drones and ballistic missiles at multiple targets
across a broad swath of Ukraine early Friday, killing at least four people in the capital and
wounding around 40 across the country.
A producer in the Kyiv region reported hearing at least two explosions in the pre-dawn hours and images from the capital showed flames rising over apartment buildings and firefighting crews at work.
As daylight broke, residents picked through debris in damaged apartments, with images showing entire walls ripped away and windows shattered. Several cars parked in the streets below were covered with pieces of glass and masonry.
Ukraine is hit by nightly barrages of Russian drones and missiles. But the country has been bracing for a major retaliatory strike promised by President Vladimir Putin following its daring raids on airfields deep inside Russia.
Four people had been killed in Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram early Friday morning local time, adding that search and rescue operations were ongoing.
Ukraine’s emergency services also said three firefighters were killed in Kyiv. It was unclear whether that death toll given by the mayor included the three firefighters. The strikes also hit Chernihiv, near the border with Belarus, which was rocked by 14 explosions from drones and ballistic missiles, including cruise missiles and Iskander-M missiles, according to Vyacheslav Chaus, the head of Chernihiv regional military administration.
In the northwestern city of Lutsk – around 60 miles from the border with Poland – Russian strikes wounded five people, its mayor Ihor Polishchuk wrote on Telegram early Friday.
Footage geolocated by CNN showed at least four missiles slamming into the city, kicking up fiery explosions on impact. Around 40 people had been wounded across Ukraine in the strikes, Interior Minster Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.
In an early indication of the scale of the attack, Russia launched at least 38 cruise missiles, six ballistic missiles and 407 drones overnight, according to a preliminary count given by Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had also intercepted and destroyed 174 Ukrainian drones from Thursday evening to early Friday morning, and had destroyed three Ukrainian Neptune-MD guided missiles over the Black Sea.
