Fourteen killed in Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv

BBC:

Fourteen people including three children have been killed and dozens more wounded in a heavy overnight Russian bombardment of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials say.

Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration said more than 20 locations had been hit in districts across the capital. Many of those killed were in a five-storey residential building which was reduced to rubble.

The Kremlin had chosen “ballistics instead of the negotiating table”, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, who reiterated the need for “new, tough sanctions” on Russia.

Ukrainian forces said Russia had fired almost 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles – the biggest attack on the capital this month.

The wave of missiles came after more than 100,000 Ukrainian homes were left without power by Russian drone attacks on energy infrastructure on Wednesday. Another 60,000 consumers were left without power in the central Vinnytsia region in the latest attacks, officials said.

Tymur Tkachenko said the children killed were aged two, 14 and 17.At least five other children were wounded in the latest strikes which hit ordinary residential buildings, he said on Telegram.

Many buildings including a kindergarten had caught fire, he added.

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaliy Klitschko, said rescue services were searching the rubble of a five-storey building which partially collapsed in the south-eastern Darnytskyi district. Klitschko said 120 people had lived there.