[Updated at 6:51 p.m.]: “As of 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), the death toll in Kyiv’s Sviatoshinsky district has risen to 12,” Ukraine’s state emergency service said on social media, adding that the number of wounded had risen to 90 people.
[Updated at 11:06 a.m.]: Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, speaking from the scene of the Russian missile strike in Kyiv, said that eight people had been officially confirmed dead.
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“At the moment, we can clearly say that there are eight dead. The ninth person we considered dead was the remains of bodies that are currently undergoing forensic examination,” Klymenko told reporters.
He confirmed that more than 70 people were injured in the attack, with 44 currently receiving treatment in hospitals.
Klymenko also said that missile fragments had been recovered from the site.
“Experts have removed the remains of this missile, handed them over to the relevant services, which will conduct an appropriate examination and give the final result of what kind of missile it was, what was the warhead of this missile.”
He added that several civilian sites near the impact zone had sustained serious damage.
“Near the site of the missile strike there is a kindergarten, a school that was also badly damaged, and residential buildings built in the early 1950s - though there are newer ones as well.”
“And I want to repeat once again that this is a densely populated area... Unfortunately, there are still, with a high degree of probability, the bodies of the dead under the rubble,” Klymenko said.
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He added that rescuers were continuing their work at the site, with specially trained dogs and the State Emergency Service’s canine unit also involved in the search efforts.
[Updated]: Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported in his latest Telegram post that 31 people, including 5 children, remain hospitalized in the capital’s hospitals.
“In total, 70 people were injured as a result of the night attack. As for the dead, the final information is being clarified,” he wrote.
Rescuers continue clearing the rubble of two heavily damaged residential buildings in the Svyatoshynskyi district.
According to the latest update by Klitschko at 10:32, a search and rescue operation is ongoing in the Svyatoshynskyi district, where emergency workers are clearing rubble from two damaged residential buildings.
“As of now, the death of eight people has been confirmed,” Klitschko said in a video address.
He reported that 77 people have sought medical assistance, with 31 currently hospitalized.
“A total of 12 buildings were damaged during the overnight attack,” the mayor added.
The city has deployed a support point for affected residents in the Svyatoshynskyi district and is providing assistance to those whose homes were damaged.
At least nine people have been killed and over 70 wounded after a massive overnight Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv, local authorities and media report.
Other cities were also hit, including Kharkiv and Pavlohrad.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on Telegram that rescuers from the State Emergency Service (DSNS) responded to about 40 fire outbreaks overnight across nine regions of Ukraine.
The massive combined Russian missile and drone strike targeted Kyiv and its surrounding region, as well as the Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Poltava, Khmelnytsky, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
Kyiv was hit the hardest, with emergency crews deployed to 13 locations in the capital.
“Tragic consequences in Svyatoshynskyi district. The dismantling of the rubble of the destroyed building is still ongoing there. Engineering forces, DSNS climbers, search dogs are involved. Phone calls can be heard from under the ruins – the search will continue until they are sure that everyone has been rescued,” Klymenko wrote.
He added that there is still no information on the whereabouts of two missing children.
Police officers were also going door-to-door in nearby buildings to check on residents.
“In total, 9 people were killed in the Russian strike in Kyiv as of 7:30 a.m. More than 70 others suffered various injuries. Emergency services have been restricted,” the report said.
Klymenko said that emergency workers carried out their tasks throughout the night under the threat of renewed attacks.
“In the Zhytomyr region, the enemy struck again at the DSNS unit that arrived to extinguish the fire. A 39-year-old rescuer was injured,” he said.
“Striking civilians, emergency services while rescuing people is Russia’s style. We have experienced this repeatedly. That is why Ukraine insists on a complete and immediate ceasefire, because this is, first and foremost, an end to the killings of our people,” Klymenko added.
Olena Davydiuk, who was woken up by explosions and ran outside as “windows and doors started falling out”, said she had no doubt about Russia’s aims.
“Why is Russia doing this? Well, it wants to destroy us, that’s all,” the 33-year-old lawyer told AFP, with rubble in the street behind her.
“It wants to destroy the boys at the front, and us in the rear.”
Moscow said it had fired on military targets and that the “objectives of the strike have been achieved”.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Telegram that the city had come under attack 24 times - 14 times by Russian UAVs and 10 times by missiles.
“Damaged: multi-storey residential buildings, a city clinic, a school building, private farms, industrial enterprises, and a hotel complex. One person was hospitalized,” his message said.
Meanwhile, DSNS reported large-scale fires in Kharkiv following the massive missile and UAV strike.
“Two people were preliminarily reported injured. Units of the State Emergency Service, municipal services, and psychologists are working under the threat of repeated strikes,” the statement read.
The agency added that efforts to extinguish the fires and clear the rubble are ongoing.
[Updated]: Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched a large-scale combined missile and drone attack from the evening of April 23 into the morning of April 24, with Kyiv identified as the main target.
According to the statement posted on Telegram, the assault included a wide variety of weapons: ballistic, cruise, guided missiles, Shahed-type attack drones, and simulator UAVs designed to confuse air defenses.
In total, Ukrainian defenses detected 215 aerial targets, including:
- 11 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles
- 37 Kh-101 cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS strategic bombers
- 6 Iskander-K cruise missiles
- 12 Kalibr cruise missiles
- 4 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles from tactical aircraft
- 145 Shahed-type strike drones and simulators.
Ukraine’s aviation, air defense missile units, mobile fire groups, and electronic warfare teams were all involved in repelling the attack.
As of 10:00 a.m., Ukrainian forces confirmed the downing of 112 targets, including:
- 7 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles
- 31 Kh-101 cruise missiles
- 6 Kalibr cruise missiles
- 4 guided Kh-59/Kh-69 missiles
- 64 Shahed drones
An additional 68 simulator drones were intercepted or lost their target without causing damage.
The report noted that “aircraft, including F-16 and Mirage fighter pilots, actively participated in repelling the attack. Ukrainian pilots shot down dozens of air targets.”
The Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, and Khmelnytskyi regions all came under fire during the attack.
This story is being updated.
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