KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's air defense forces fought off a Russian air attack on the capital Kiev for five hours overnight, officials said Thursday, as missiles and drones again hammered Ukraine's power grid.
Ukraine's emergency services said at least two people were injured in the Kiev attack. According to the Kiev military government, a kindergarten, gas pipes and about 20 cars were damaged in the city.
In western Ukraine, Russia launched three Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles, one of Russia's most advanced weapons, on Thursday morning in the “direction” of the city of Starokostyanchyv in the Khmelnytsky region, the Air Force said. announced. The Air Force indicated that the missile was aimed at a sensitive location and said it could not release any further information.
Long-range attacks are a feature of Russia's military operations in Ukraine, now in its third year, often hitting civilian areas. The attack on the power grid has cut about 70% of Ukraine's power generation capacity, leading to blackouts as winter approaches, the United Nations said.
Air defense systems are critical to Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden in Washington on Thursday to ensure continued U.S. military support for the country.
Energy infrastructure in western Ukraine's Ivano-Frankivsk region was hit, causing power outages in parts of the region's capital of the same name, regional governor Svitlana Onishchuk said.
Local authorities said power grids were also targeted in the southern Mykolaiv region, but did not immediately provide details.
Russia fired six missiles and 78 drones toward Ukraine overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Defense forces announced that they had destroyed four missiles and 66 unmanned aerial vehicles.
A missile killed a 62-year-old woman in the southern Odesa region and damaged her home and car, the region's governor, Ole Kipel, said.
At least 10 people, including a 14-year-old, were injured in the night attack in the city of Zaporizhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. He shared photos of a house with windows blown out and walls riddled with debris. Emergency services said 12 homes in the city were damaged and 18 people were evacuated.
Meanwhile, in the northeastern region of Sumy, weapons experts defused a 500 kg glide bomb that landed without detonating next to a bridge over the Psel River.
