Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia launched a large-scale aerial attack on Kyiv overnight on Nov. 13-14, battering the capital with hundreds of drones and missiles.
Officials reported that at least 12 people have been injured across the city. Five of the injured victims have been hospitalized, including a pregnant woman.
Several explosions were reported in Kyiv beginning around 12:45 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Two additional waves of explosions were reported between 1 and 1:30 a.m.
“The Russians are striking residential buildings,” Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko warned amid the strikes. “Many high-rise buildings across Kyiv have been affected, in almost every district,” he added.
In total, at least 11 multi-story building were struck in the overnight attack on Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Klitschko reported that drone debris struck a five-story residential building in the Dniprovskyi district of Kyiv, with a separate fire reported on the 12th floor of another residential building.
A fire was also reported on the 10th floor of a residential building in the Podilskyi district, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration, as well as on the roof of a five-story building in the Solomianskyi district. A third building in the Podilskyi district was also struck and burning, as well as a “non-residential building,” Klitschko later added.
The mayor also reported that an unspecified medical facility and administrative building were damaged in the Holosiivskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts.
Several car fires were also reported in the Darnytskyi district of the capital. Klitschko also reported that sections of the district heating network were damaged in the strikes. Emergency crews are assessing the extent of the damage.
Kyiv Independent journalists reported power outages in several districts of the city during the attacks.
While buildings burned in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Air Force reported waves of drones targeting the country’s central, southern, and eastern regions. Monitoring groups reported that upwards of 120 drones and decoys were bound for the capital. Dozens of cruise and ballistic missile were also launched towards various regions of Ukraine, the Air Force said.
Bila Tserkva, located on the outskirts of Kyiv, also served as a target of Russian attacks, according to war monitoring groups.
Kyiv Oblast Governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported that a 55-year-old man was injured with thermal burns in the attack. Fires in the community were also reported at a warehouse and several vehicles amid the attacks.
Air defenses are operating in the capital, officials reported. Air raid alerts were issued for the entire country due to the threat of a missile attack.
Russia has regularly launched large-scale attacks on Ukrainian cities since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In recent months, Moscow has intensified attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in an attempt to plunge Ukraine into another harsh winter.
In the most recent large-scale attack on Nov. 8, Ukrainian cities sustained “one of the largest direct ballistic missile attacks on energy facilities” since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, then-Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said.
The attack forced Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, to implement over 12 hours of emergency power cuts to stabilize the energy situation.
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