Kyiv struck after attack on Russian e-commerce giant
The latest bombardment underscores a dual challenge for Ukraine in the fifth year of war; There is also rare domestic political instability triggered by a sudden wartime shakeup of Ukraine’s military leadership, which faces almost daily Russian attacks.
AFP journalists in Kiev heard explosions just after the Ukrainian air force warned the public via Telegram about incoming ballistic missiles.
An AFP journalist said one of the explosions was so powerful that alarms were set off in cars parked in the city centre.
Authorities gave conflicting information about the number of people injured or killed in the attack.
The city’s military administration said in a statement on Telegram: “According to preliminary information, unfortunately, one person died as a result of the attack.” he said.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 7 people were injured but no deaths were reported. Ukraine’s state emergency service said two people were injured.Also read: Ukrainian drones hit warehouses and other facilities in Russia, killing 9 and injuring more than 80
Nighttime strikes sparked fires and damaged buildings in many districts of the capital, according to Klitschko and local officials.
In the Solomianskyi district, an apartment building was hit and a fire broke out in a supermarket, while in the Sviatoshynsky district, a residential building was set on fire.
Strikes were also reported in a shopping and entertainment center in the Dniprovsky district, an apartment building in the Shevchenkivsky district and a non-residential building.
Russia has been firing drones and missiles at Kiev and other Ukrainian cities almost every day since it began invading Ukraine in 2022.
Attacks in Russia
On Saturday, Ukraine sent attack drones to destroy e-commerce warehouses in the Moscow and Tambov regions, killing eight people and causing massive fires.
Five people were killed and almost 20 people were injured in Ukraine on Saturday in Russian attacks in the regions extending to the southeast of the country.
“In response to Russian attacks on our civilian infrastructure, cities and communities, two major logistics facilities were hit in the Moscow and Tambov regions,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told X. he said.
It claimed the centers were used “to source approved components for drone manufacturing and navigation equipment.”
Kyiv has intensified its attacks on Russian territory in recent months, disrupting the lives of ordinary Russians; These attacks are called revenge for more than four years of bombardments on their territory.
The campaign, which Kiev calls “long-term sanctions”, has mostly targeted Russia’s oil infrastructure, triggering a full-blown fuel crisis in one of the world’s largest oil-producing countries.
Russian capital Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that more than 370 unmanned aerial vehicles were launched in the Moscow region overnight.
About 1,892 Ukrainian drones heading towards Moscow were intercepted between July 11 and 18, the official added.
Rare wartime protests
But as the war raged on, thousands of people gathered in Ukraine’s major cities for a third consecutive day on Saturday to protest the sacking of popular defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov.
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The tech-savvy minister was dismissed by Zelensky in a surprise government reshuffle just as Ukraine was gaining momentum on the battlefield, triggering a rare public outcry.
The demonstrations took place during the president’s two days of meetings with top military commanders, fueling media speculation that he might seek a replacement for army chief Oleksandr Syrsky.
During just six months in office, Fedorov had repeatedly sparred with the 60-year-old Syrsky over his efforts to digitize and modernize a military strained by four-and-a-half years of conflict.
