At least two people were killed and several others wounded on Friday morning in a large wave of Russian bombings in Ukraine’s capital and the southern Kherson region.
Air raid sirens were heard across Ukraine for several hours to warn of the attacks.
Russia launched eight missiles—including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and Iskander/KN-23 ballistic missiles—just on Kyiv, said Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv military administration.
Ukrainian cities are facing ongoing missile and drone attacks, while Ukrainian forces, outnumbered and under-equipped, are struggling to halt the rapid advance of the Russian military in the eastern part of the country.
One person was killed in an attack in the Holosiv district of Kyiv. Several explosions were heard in the capital, according to witnesses.
“The enemy likely used Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles and Iskander/KN-23 ballistic missiles,” said Serhiy Popko, adding that a gas pipeline was damaged during the attack.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported that debris from downed Russian drones fell in four districts of the capital—Holosiv, Solomiansk, Shevchenkivsk, and Dniprovsk—wounding at least two people.
In Kherson, a 60-year-old man was killed in a Russian attack, and two others, including an 86-year-old man, were wounded, reported regional governor Roman Mrochko.
On Thursday, a Russian missile hit and severely damaged a two-story residential building in the southeastern city of Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, injuring five people, including two who were pulled alive from the rubble, officials said.
The attack also left parts of the 600,000-strong city without electricity and damaged a hospital, said regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
Friday’s bombings followed a statement from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who suggested on Thursday a “high-tech duel” over Kyiv to demonstrate that Russia’s new hypersonic ballistic missile, named Oreshnik, cannot be destroyed by Western-supplied air defenses.
“It would be interesting for us… Let’s carry out this experiment, this technological duel, and see the results. I think it would be useful for both us and the Americans,” Putin said.
In response, Zelensky posted a message on X (formerly Twitter), calling Putin an “idiot.”
“People are dying, and he thinks it’s ‘interesting’… Idiot,” Zelensky wrote.
