Russian forces launched a missile attack on Kyiv early on Sunday, causing fires in at least two districts and injuring one person, according to Ukrainian officials.
Explosions were reported after air-raid alerts sounded shortly after 2am. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said falling debris started a fire in a non-residential area of a northern suburb, where several cars caught fire, while another blaze was reported south of the city centre.
What Ukrainian officials reported
Kyiv’s military administration said one person had been injured. Klitschko said the attack caused fires in separate parts of the capital, while emergency responders dealt with the damage.
The attack follows weeks of intensive Russian air attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, according to Ukrainian accounts cited in the source material.
Related coverage: Kyiv court detains organiser of weapons expo hit by Russian missile attack.
Ukraine reports strikes inside Russia
Ukraine said its long-range strikes hit a Russian military airfield and the Progress rocket centre. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Flamingo cruise missiles struck the rocket facility, located about 900km from Ukraine’s border.
Ukraine’s armed forces said direct hits caused fires at the airfield in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region and at the Progress centre in Samara region. Zelenskyy said the campaign was intended to reduce Russia’s war potential and pressure Moscow to end the war.
Why the Russian rocket centre matters
The Samara plant produces rockets used to launch satellites for Russia’s Rassvet broadband network, which is being developed as an alternative to SpaceX’s Starlink. Starlink operates in Ukraine but not in Russia, giving Kyiv an advantage in drone operations and battlefield communications, according to the source material.
More context: Nizhnekamsk refinery attack highlights Kyiv’s long-range campaign.
Local officials in Samara said air defences had repelled a “massive missile attack”. Ivan Noskov, head of the regional capital, said industrial infrastructure sustained localised damage and that emergency services were working at the scene.
Other developments in the war
A Russian strike on an apartment block in Marhanets in south-eastern Ukraine killed a three-month-old baby and wounded 11 people, local officials said. Russia’s defence ministry separately said its forces had struck Ukrainian logistics centres, energy and transport infrastructure, and workshops for long-range drones and drone boats.
Russia’s foreign ministry said Moscow had asked Washington and Ankara to explain reports of possible plans to transfer a substantial arsenal of US weapons and ammunition held by Turkey to Ukraine, warning that such a move would harm relations. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin also exchanged letters reaffirming their countries’ close partnership.
Also read: Civilian Deaths Reported Amid Ongoing Attacks in Ukraine and Russian-Occupied Areas.
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