KYIV, Ukraine, July 11, (v7n) – Russian strikes on Kyiv wounded 11 people on Saturday, with missiles hitting the city even before air raid alerts sounded, according to Ukrainian officials.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard two series of explosions in the early hours, with air raid sirens sounding minutes after the first blast. Moscow has been firing missiles and drones at Kyiv almost daily since launching its invasion in February 2022, but a spate of recent deadly attacks using ultra-fast ballistic missiles has challenged Ukraine's air defences.
"Eleven people, including a child, have been injured in Kyiv during last night's Russian attack," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. "Civilian infrastructure was hit even before the air raid alert was issued." He posted videos of emergency teams working in the smoke and rubble of ruined buildings.
Zelensky said Russia launched "more than 120 drones and 12 missiles, half of them ballistic" overnight. Apartment buildings, offices, and a theological seminary were damaged in Kyiv, with recovery efforts also underway in Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv regions.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, confirmed Russia was "attacking the capital with missiles" and urged residents to seek shelter. Three people were treated in hospital and three at the scene, he said earlier.
Zelensky acknowledged that "our defenders managed to shoot down most of the targets—but not the ballistic ones," and repeated his plea for allies to send more military aid, urging the United States to swiftly follow through on its pledge to license Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defence systems. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would allow Ukraine to produce the missiles, though Zelensky noted Thursday that technical details still need to be agreed.
Sergiy Sternenko, an adviser to Ukraine's defence minister, suggested that impacts before sirens could indicate Russia used S-400 anti-aircraft missiles for ground strikes, saying: "There is no military logic to such attacks. It is simply terrorism for the sake of terrorism."
On Friday, Ukrainian drone strikes hit oil refineries in southern Russia as Kyiv targeted its foe's energy infrastructure.
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