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'Massive' Russian missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills 8 / Photo: Sergei SUPINSKY - AFP
'Massive' Russian missile, drone attack on Kyiv kills 8
A "massive" Russian attack killed at least eight people in Kyiv overnight, including seven at a railways depot, officials said Tuesday, as Moscow pressed its air campaign on the Ukrainian capital and surrounding areas.
The strikes came as children were set to return to school after summer holidays and as authorities tightened security measures following weeks of intensified Russian attacks on the capital.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said eight people were killed and five wounded, including two children, in the overnight bombardment, which included ballistic missiles and drones.
Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chief executive of Ukrainian Railways, said a missile hit a railway depot and other railway facilities in Kyiv.
"The ballistic strike took the lives of 7 people, 6 of whom were our employees," he said, adding that another railway worker had been hospitalised.
Pertsovskyi said the attack caused "extensive destruction", including the complete destruction of a workshop, while fires continued to burn at some sites.
One person was killed in strikes in Boryspil, east of Kyiv, regional officials said.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces had carried out a "massive strike" using long-range weapons and attack drones.
It said the attack targeted military-industrial and fuel and energy facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
The ministry also said it had struck infrastructure in the southern Odesa region and the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk.
"Kyiv region came under a massive attack by Russian missiles and strike drones tonight," Kyiv regional military administration chief Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram.
AFP journalists in the capital heard around a dozen loud explosions and saw flashes in sky early Tuesday moments after the air force warned of incoming ballistic missiles.
The Ukrainian air force had warned that the threat of "ballistic weapons and other means of attack against Kyiv and the region remains in effect", and urged residents to remain in shelters.
Ukrainian children return to school on Tuesday, and the Kyiv regional military administration has warned there must be no large events in areas with a high level of risk.
Kyiv and its surrounding areas have come under sustained pressure from Russian drone attacks in recent weeks, with jet-powered drones adding to the threat and triggering as many as a dozen air-raid alerts a day.
One weekend attack on an ammunition depot killed 38 people in the capital's suburbs.
Both sides have escalated long-range strikes in recent months, targeting infrastructure such as warehouses, businesses, and oil and port facilities, as well as ships, increasing civilian casualties.
Ukraine faces a shortage of interceptor missiles, particularly US-made Patriot systems used against ballistic threats.
Q.Weiss--BlnAP
