Ukrainian officials have reported a tragic incident in Kyiv, where a fresh wave of missile attacks has claimed the lives of two children and an adult, while leaving more than a dozen people injured. These relentless aerial assaults by Russia on the Ukrainian capital have become distressingly routine, with the latest strikes occurring in the Desnyanskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. Although the information about the victims is still in its preliminary stages, it has been disclosed that one child was between the ages of 5 and 6, while the other was 12 or 13, both residing in the Desnyanskyi district.
This particular assault marks the fourth of its kind in the current week alone, following a harrowing series of 17 attacks throughout the month of May. The majority of these onslaughts were unleashed under the cover of darkness, although a few audacious strikes even occurred during daylight hours. Disturbing images shared by military authorities reveal the painstaking efforts of rescue teams tending to the wounded, as well as the stark evidence of damaged buildings, stark reminders of the devastation inflicted upon the city.
In the early hours of the morning, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko took to Telegram to express his dismay, recounting a succession of explosions that reverberated throughout the city. He emphasized the strenuous efforts of the rescue teams as they navigated through the debris and extinguished fires that blazed in the aftermath of the attacks. As a result of the assaults, 14 individuals sustained injuries, with nine requiring immediate medical attention and hospitalization.
Simultaneously, Russian-backed officials in the occupied region of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk province conveyed their own reports of tragedy. They claimed that five people had lost their lives and 19 had been injured due to Ukrainian shelling at a poultry farm on Wednesday. Furthermore, the governor of the neighboring Russian region of Belgorod disclosed that at least two individuals were wounded in an attack on the town of Shebekino. The blame for this incident was promptly assigned to Ukrainian troops.
In recent weeks, Russia, having initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has escalated its aggression by employing kamikaze drones, alongside a range of cruise and ballistic missiles, to relentlessly target various locations within Ukraine. Kyiv, in particular, has borne the brunt of these attacks, leading analysts to believe that Moscow is strategically aiming to deplete and impair Ukraine's air defense capabilities in preparation for an anticipated counter-offensive, which the Ukrainian government has been meticulously planning for months.