Kyiv, Jul 19: At least one person was killed and eight others injured after Russia launched an overnight missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, local authorities said on Sunday.
The attack began around 1:30 am local time and continued for several hours, with explosions reported across the city as Russian forces fired ballistic missiles.
According to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, the strikes triggered fires in five districts of Kyiv, damaging residential buildings, office and industrial facilities, a dormitory and several vehicles.
In the Sviatoshynskyi district, rescue workers pulled four people from a burning private house, while residents were evacuated from a three-storey residential building engulfed in flames in the Shevchenkivskyi district. Authorities later recovered one person’s body from the affected area.
Firefighters also responded to separate blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts, where emergency teams worked to contain the damage.
The latest strike comes amid a series of intensified Russian attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, as Ukraine continues to face shortages of Patriot air defence missiles, considered its most effective defence against ballistic missile attacks.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, a move that could strengthen Kyiv’s air defence capabilities. However, details regarding the implementation and timeline of the proposal have not yet been announced.
