Kremlin says it was a revenge strike for Kyiv’s attack on a military plant in Rostov 2 days ago.
KYIV — The Russian armed forces attacked Kyiv with five ballistic missiles in the early hours of Friday, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement as images showed significant damage to the capital.
“In a combat air defense shot down all five ballistic missiles that Russian criminals had directed at Kyiv. Unfortunately, fragments of the downed missiles caused damage and destruction in five districts of the capital. There are dead and wounded,” the air force said.
Russia also fired missiles and 60 drones overnight at Ukrainian cities in the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy and Chernihiv regions, and in Kherson, where Russians tried to break through Ukrainian defenses around the Dnipro River but failed, Kherson’s military administration said in a statement.
In Kyiv, debris from the Russian missiles killed one person and injured 10 in four districts, the city’s military administration said in a statement.
A Russian hacking group on Thursday also attacked Ukraine’s digital critical infrastructure, as Russian ruler Vladimir Putin’s all-out assault shows no sign of slowing down.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the strike on Kyiv was « a response » to Ukraine’s missile attack on a plant that produces fuel for Russian Iskander missiles in the Rostov region on Wednesday.
Several dozen residential buildings, a Catholic cathedral and a business center in Kyiv were severely damaged by the Russian attack. More than 600 buildings lost heating after the strike.
The latest Russian attack also damaged the embassies of Albania, Argentina, Palestine, Macedonia, Portugal and Montenegro, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorgii Tykhyi said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.
“All these embassies were located in one building, which suffered significant damage. Diplomatic institutions had broken windows, doors, and fragments of the ceiling. Cars were damaged. The Ukrainian side is dealing with the consequences,” Tykhiy said. “Fortunately, none of the foreign diplomats were injured.”
Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro condemned the attack in a statement on X.
“In the face of yet another horrible attack by Russia on Kiev, now with an intolerable impact on Portuguese diplomatic facilities … Portugal demands strict respect for international law,” Montenegro said.
This article has been updated.
