Breaking: Residential buildings damaged in Kyiv as Russia launches large-scale missile, drone attack
on Google
Editor's note: This is a breaking story and is being updated.
Russia launched a barrage of missiles and drones toward Kyiv overnight on July 6, damaging residential infrastructure just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of yet another large-scale attack targeting the capital.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, reported that a residential building was partially destroyed between the 7th and 9th floors in the Podilskyi district of the city. Photos and videos posted to social media show part of the facade of the building caved in following a missile strike.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko further reported that debris struck another residential building and destroyed a separate "non-residential building" in the Podilskyi district. Several garages, a warehouse, and a "non-residential building" also damaged in the Holosiivskyi and Darnytskyi districts.
Several explosions were reported around 1:40 a.m. local time, and then again during a second wave of strikes at 2:10 a.m., according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Ukraine's Air Force warned of several dozens missile flying towards Kyiv, as air raid alerts were issued for almost all of Ukraine's regions.
Local residents also reported power outages in the Sofiivska Borshchahivka neighbourhood of Kyiv Oblast, a suburb immediately west of the capital.
In response to the missile launches, Poland's Air Force said it scrambled fighter jets to preventively protect the country's own airspace.
No information has been immediately reported on any casualties sustained, although Klitschko said that residents are trapped in the damaged building.
Zelensky warned during his evening address that Russia was preparing for another large-scale attack against Ukraine, urging civilians to heed air raid alerts and calling on allies to accelerate deliveries of Patriot air defense missiles.
"Intelligence once again indicates that the Russians are preparing a new massive strike," Zelensky said. "This is typical of Putin: right after America's Independence Day and before the NATO Summit in Ankara."
The warning comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to continue Moscow's campaign of large-scale missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities.
Prior to the latest attack, Russia pummeled Kyiv in another large-scale attack on July 2, killing 31 people, while injuring another 102.
