Kyiv under Russian missile attack, two dead, six injured, mayor says

Russian forces ​attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday ​with ballistic missiles, killing two people and injuring ‌six, ​as debris crashed down on several districts, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Klitschko, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said one of the dead had been in the parking ‌lot of a maternity hospital. Three of the six injured were medical personnel and two of those hurt were in a serious condition. Part of the hospital facade was damaged, as was a nearby clinic. Debris hit the ground in three ‌districts of the capital and Klitschko said part of a residence had also been destroyed.

"In the Dniprovskyi district, ‌debris fell into the yard of a private property," Klitschko wrote. "People may be trapped under rubble". He urged residents to remain in shelters. Kyiv's military administration said a 16-storey residential building was damaged, along with private homes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy decried the new Russian missile attack and said ⁠the ​strikes were recurring because of insufficient ⁠pressure on Moscow. "Every such attack occurs because the pressure on the aggressor has not become total and Russia believes it can continue to ⁠rely on ballistic terror," Zelenskiy, attending the UN General Assembly in New York, wrote on Telegram.

He said the attack took place ​as he was discussing the newly approved Lindsey Graham Russia sanctions law with members of the US Congress. "Right ⁠now, the United States has the opportunity to respond strongly. We need ballistic interceptors to protect lives. We need to implement sanctions against Russia ⁠and ​those who help it earn money," he added on the messaging app.

Reuters witnesses said several explosions had resounded after 1:00 a.m. local time. Unofficial Telegram channels showed what was described as a fire lighting up the horizon. Russian ⁠forces had maintained attacks on the city through most of Wednesday, killing two people and injuring 45, according to Klitschko.

In ⁠the Black Sea port of ⁠Odesa, the head of the city's military administration, Serhiy Lysak, said on Telegram that overnight Russian strikes had damaged residences and medical and educational institutions. He gave no further ‌details.