Kyiv [Ukraine], December 21 : A Russian missile attack on Kyiv early Friday left at least one person dead and 12 others injured, while several embassies sustained damage, according to Ukrainian authorities, CNN reported.
The Kyiv City Military Administration confirmed the casualties in a Telegram post, noting that five of the injured were hospitalised and others received treatment at the scene.
The attack occurred around 7 am, when Russia launched five ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital, all of which were intercepted by Ukrainian air defences, according to Ukraine's Air Force Command. In addition, 40 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed, and another 20 drones failed to reach their intended targets. Despite this, falling debris caused damage and injuries in Kyiv's city centre.
Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, detailed the extent of the damage on Telegram, stating that debris impacted infrastructure in multiple districts. "In one district, an office building, road surface, and gas pipe were damaged, and five cars caught fire," Popko said. In another area, a building under construction caught fire following the attack, reported CNN.
Several embassies, including those of Albania, Argentina, Palestine, North Macedonia, Portugal, and Montenegro, were damaged in the attack, Ukraine's foreign ministry revealed. Heorhii Tykhyi, a ministry spokesperson, condemned the assault as "barbaric," noting that windows and doors of the embassy premises were shattered. Portugal's foreign ministry reported light damage to its facility and summoned Russia's charge d'affaires in protest.
Russia's defence ministry claimed responsibility for the strike, stating it targeted Ukrainian military sites in retaliation for a Ukrainian missile attack earlier this week on a chemical plant in Russia's Rostov region.
"In response to the actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by Western curators, this morning a group strike with long-range precision weapons was launched against the SBU command post, the Kyiv Luch design bureau, which designs and manufactures Neptune missile systems, Olkha ground-based cruise missiles, and the positions of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system," the ministry wrote on Telegram, adding, "The strike targets were achieved. All objects were hit."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for increased sanctions against Russia in response to the attack and thanked international partners for their readiness to provide more air defence systems.
"I would also like to thank all of our partners who are responding to this and other Russian attacks by being ready to provide more air defence systems," he said as per reports by CNN.
Elsewhere, Russian forces targeted the southern city of Kherson with heavy shelling, killing two people and injuring 10, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration.
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