Kiev suffers partial blackouts amid reported missile strikes (VIDEOS)
The Ukrainian capital and several other cities across the country have come under a combined drone and missile strike early on Tuesday morning, according to local officials and media reports. The Russian Ministry of Defense has yet to comment.
The first wave of blasts in Kiev was heard around 1:30am local time, followed by more explosions around 2:15am and 4am. Videos shared on social media show multiple explosions in the Ukrainian capital.
In one clip, a powerful blast was followed by the lights going out, plunging much of Kiev into darkness.
Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed partial blackouts in several districts, urging residents to seek shelter as the capital’s air defenses engaged incoming targets.
Other footage captured the sounds of repeated secondary explosions. The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify, as Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts, except when civilian infrastructure is affected.
There were no immediate reports of fatalities, but Klitschko said at least 14 people were injured after falling debris from intercepted missiles and drones triggered fires in residential areas and private yards.
Multiple explosions were also reported in Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye, as well as in Sumy and Kharkov regions.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet issued a statement on the latest reported attack.
Moscow previously pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations, drone manufacturing sites, command posts, and “decision-making centers” in retaliation for the deadly “terrorist attack” in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) on May 22.
The attack on the Starobelsk college dormitory, conducted in several waves late at night while students were sleeping inside, killed 21 people, mainly teenage girls.
With the Starobelsk massacre, “the Kiev leadership has decided to open a new chapter in its crime spree, to add a new dimension to the conflict as a whole,” President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, adding that the perpetrators will suffer a “well-deserved and inevitable punishment.”
