Russian ballistic missiles kill 12 in Ukraine’s Kyiv, spark fires

Russian ballistic missiles killed 12 people and injured more than 30 in Kyiv early on Thursday, authorities said, damaging buildings and severing power supply to some parts of the Ukrainian capital.

A fire broke out and the upper floors of a nine-storey residential block were destroyed in the city’s Solomianskyi district, where seven people were killed, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, calling for Friday to be observed as a day of mourning.

Two other districts also suffered damage, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, with non-residential facilities, warehouses, a school and a children’s hospital hit.

Power company DTEK said it restored electricity to more than half of the roughly 90,000 homes left without power in the capital following the attack.

Russia has stepped up air attacks on Ukraine in recent months, trying to exploit its smaller neighbour’s critical shortage of interceptors to down ballistic missiles.

The Russian defence ministry said Moscow attacked Kyiv and the surrounding region with airstrikes and drones, hitting facilities producing drone components, a military depot and a logistics hub, as well as other targets.