Russia slams Kyiv, Dnipro in mass missile attack overnight
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Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia targeted cities across Ukraine in a mass missile attack overnight on April 16, hitting residential neighborhoods in Kyiv and Dnipro.
Ukraine's Air Force issued a ballistic missile alert at around 2:35 a.m. local time. Minutes later, Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground in the capital reported loud explosions as the missiles struck the city.
Less than an hour later, another round of ballistic missile explosions rocked Kyiv.
At least two people — including a child — have been killed and 10 others injured in the overnight attacks in Kyiv, according to city authorities.
A 12-year-old boy and a 35-year-old woman were killed, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschkoreported. Ten others were injured, including four emergency responders. Six of the injured victims have been hospitalized.
Damage has been reported in multiple neighborhoods. Commercial and residential buildings in the city's Obolonskyi and Podilskyi districts were struck, with fires reported in different locations.
Emergency workers rescued a mother and child from the rubble of one damaged apartment building in the Podilskyi district, Klitschko said. The first floor of the building completely collapsed due to the attack. Both the child and their mother are being treated by medics.
The full extent of the damage and casualties is still unclear as attacks are ongoing.
Missile alerts were also declared in regions across the country. In Dnipro, Ukraine's fourth-largest city, fires blazed in residential neighborhoods as a deadly Russian missile attack hit the city for the second time this week.
At least one civilian was killed and 10 others injured in the attacks, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported. Seven victims were hospitalized.
The attacks damaged apartments, an educational institute, garages, and vehicles.
Explosions were also reported in Odesa shortly after a ballistic missile warning. A drone strike against the southern port city earlier in the day killed one man and injured six people.
The latest mass attack on Ukraine comes shortly after President Volodymyr Zelensky sounded the alarm on the country's critical shortage of air defense missiles, particularly U.S.-made Patriots.
"The situation is in such a deficit, it could not be any worse," he said on April 14.
Russia regularly targets Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure in large-scale aerial attacks. Daily life has been severely disrupted for Ukrainians adapting to Russia's escalating tactics, which involve swarms of kamikaze drones and missiles.
Civilian casualties also increased dramatically over the last year.
