Russian drone strikes Kyiv school, pupils escape unhurt

A Russian drone smashed into a school in Kyiv and set it ablaze on Thursday morning, but all pupils were in a shelter at the time and no injuries were reported, authorities in the Ukrainian ‌capital said. An important bridge over the Dnipro River was also struck in Russia's intensifying attacks on the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. The Southern Bridge did not suffer major damage but metro traffic over it was temporarily halted.

At the school, rescue workers picked through debris near the charred building, whose windows were shattered. ‌CCTV footage verified by Reuters showed a bright fireball erupting after the drone slammed into the building's third floor. "They (Russians) spare no one," said school director Valentyna ‌Chorna, who added that more than 100 students had been present during the attack.

"Children are our future, the future of our nation. In order to destroy a nation, of course, they need to destroy children." Russia has denied targeting civilians although it has repeatedly struck cities and towns across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in 2022.

ESCALATING STRIKES The attacks were part of round-the-clock ⁠airstrikes on ​Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in which ⁠Russia has been using jet-powered drones, which Ukraine has struggled to shoot down because of a lack of air defences.

On Wednesday, Russian forces unleashed what Ukrainian officials described as the start of ⁠a cold-weather strike campaign against Ukraine's power grid. The attack on the bridge, in particular, represents an escalation because such structures had recently been considered a "red line", political analyst Vadym ​Denysenko wrote on Facebook.

The Institute of Nuclear Research in Kyiv said in a statement that it had been struck by a drone late on ⁠Wednesday, but that radiation levels remained normal. On Monday, a Russian drone smashed into the National Academy of Sciences in downtown Kyiv, killing one and wounding several others.

ATTACK ON ODESA Russia has intensified airstrikes as ⁠its ​overall frontline advances have slowed this year.

One person was wounded on Thursday in a Russian attack on a business centre in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, regional officials said. City administration chief Serhiy Lysak said infrastructure had been damaged but gave no further details.

Odesa and the surrounding region ⁠have been a frequent target of attacks aimed partly at choking Kyiv's export revenues. Russia, which says it strikes only military targets, reported that it had attacked ⁠a data centre in Odesa and ⁠a cargo vessel in the nearby port of Chornomorsk.

Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on Russia, striking oil refineries and major online retailers to try to undermine Moscow's war effort. One man was killed when a Ukrainian drone exploded ‌in the town of Graivoron ‌in Russia's Belgorod region, local authorities said on Thursday.

(Additional reporting by Serhiy Chalyi ​and Olena Harmash; Editing by Timothy Heritage)