Russia struck Kyiv with a third wave of attacks in 24 hours early Tuesday, killing at least one person and prompting evacuations in Ukraine’s capital.
It was the latest attack in a day of terror on the city, which included a surprise daytime missile assault Monday just hours after an overnight barrage of missiles there and across the country.
“Another difficult night for Kyiv. Now just hours passed between Russian attacks,” tweeted Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs on Tuesday morning, along with photos on his feed of burnt and burning buildings and cars charred and destroyed.
He said Russia had launched 31 drones overnight, 29 of which were shot down. He added that a 33-year-old woman was killed and nine others were wounded in Kyiv, as well as four more in the larger Kyiv region, according to Ukraine’s National Police.
Local officials in Kyiv now say there have been 17 attacks on the city in the past 30 days, while national officials assert that the concentrated assaults are aimed at confusing and incapacitating Ukraine’s air defense system, as well as intimidating and exhausting civilians.
Meanwhile, residential buildings in Moscow were hit by at least eight drones early Tuesday.
While a drone strike in Moscow earlier this month appeared aimed at the Kremlin, this latest attack was the first to hit civilian areas in the Russian capital amid Russia’s more than 15-month invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry blamed Ukraine for what it called a “terrorist attack” while Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential advisor, said Ukraine has “nothing directly to do” with the drone strike on Moscow.
However, he added that he was “pleased to observe and predict an increase in the number of attacks” on Russia’s capital city.
