Russia launches wave of missile strikes on Ukraine, damaging infrastructure and killing at least five

Russia has launched a wave of missile strikes on Ukraine, reports Ukraine’s Air Force Command. An air raid alert has been declared across the country.

In Kyiv, air defense systems were activated, and several explosions were heard in the city, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Debris, presumably from rockets, fell in the Dniprovskyi district, reported the city’s military administration. Two people were injured, two high-voltage power lines and a heating main were damaged, and some areas on the eastern bank of the river were left without power, added Klitschko.

In the Holosiivskyi district, a fire reportedly broke out in a multi-story residential building. Several cars also caught fire at a service station in the same area. According to Kyiv’s military administration, one person in the district was injured, and the power grid was damaged.

Later, Klitschko reported that four people in Kyiv were killed and 35 injured. Of those injured, 32, including a pregnant woman, required hospitalization. Fifty-two people were evacuated from a building that caught fire. Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry believes there may be more dead under the rubble of a partially destroyed 18-story building.

Explosions were also heard in Kharkiv during the attack. Kharkiv Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that areas in the Slobidskyi district were hit. Syniehubov reported that three people were injured.

The Russian Armed Forces also attacked the city of Mykolaiv with drones and missiles, said Governor Vitaly Kim. A 70-year-old man was killed, and another person was injured. About 20 residential buildings were damaged and a fire broke out along part of an underground gas pipeline. An infrastructure facility was also damaged. The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, added that water pipelines were also damaged in the attack.

Explosions were also reported in Drohobych, said Maxim Kozitsky, the Lviv region governor. An industrial facility was reportedly hit.