Editor's Note: This is a developing story. It will be updated as more details emerge.
Russian forces launched a missile attack on Kyiv early in the morning of March 21, injuring at least 13 people and causing damage to homes and infrastructure throughout the city.
According to Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko, at least two people were hospitalized. Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said one of the Shevchenkivskyi district victims was an 11-year-old girl.
The attack damaged apartment buildings, a kindergarten, a business, infrastructure, and vehicles. Emergency services are working at the attack sites, and the full extent of the damage is being investigated amid ongoing attacks.
The Air Force reported that Russian forces launched two ballistic missiles, as well as 29 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles from the Volgodonsk area in Rostov Oblast and Saratov Oblast's Engels. All 31 missiles were downed by Ukraine's air defense.
Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv early in the morning of March 21 amid threats of a massive Russian missile attack, according to reports from city and military authorities.
A series of explosions occurred in the capital around 5 a.m., Klitschko said. Kyiv Independent correspondents reported hearing over a dozen in the city.
Falling rock fragments in the Podilskyi district caused a fire to break out at a transformer substation and at a two-story non-residential building, Klitschko reported.
The roof of a residential building in the Podilskyi district is also on fire.
In the Svyatoshynsky district, the attack damaged a kindergarten and two nine-story apartment buildings.
A residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was also hit, Klitschko said. Residents are being evacuated from the burning building. Cars are on fire in the area, and firefighters have been dispatched to the scene.
A warehouse of the online retailer Rozetka was damaged while 99 employees were on the shift, said Vladyslav Chechotkin, the company's representative. While the building, cars, and goods suffered heavy damage, no staff members were hurt as they were in a shelter during the attack.
Missile fragments hit civilian areas also elsewhere in Kyiv Oblast, damaging private houses and injuring two people, the regional prosecutor's office said.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
