(Fixes typo paragraph 1)
KYIV, July 19 (Reuters) – Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the surrounding region early on Sunday, killing at least one person and wounding 13 others as fires broke out across the city, officials said.
A series of powerful explosions thundered in the night, as Ukraine’s air force warned of a ballistic missile threat.
Fires broke out at a dormitory, an apartment building and a supermarket, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram app.
Several non-residential buildings and warehouses were struck in the attack, while parked cars and office buildings were on fire in several districts, Klitschko said.
At one location, workers picked through smouldering debris and doused bombed-out apartments.
A resident who identified himself as Vlad said he had been inside his apartment when a blast tore off his balcony door, which smashed him in the head.
“My grandmother lives with me, and she can’t walk. How could I run away and leave her behind?” he said.
The State Emergency Service dispatched emergency workers to several locations across three city districts.
Two people were wounded in the Kyiv region, according to the military administration, and warehouses there were also damaged.
Russian forces have stepped up ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities in recent weeks, as Ukraine runs low on critical U.S.-designed air defences to shoot them down.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Andrii Perun and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Michael Perry)
Comments