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Russia fired multiple missiles early Monday, causing loud bangs in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, sparking fires and damaging homes and infrastructure, officials said.
Residents of the city were awakened by a series of explosions and the sound of anti-aircraft missiles being fired into the sky to intercept targets.
The air force said it destroyed 22 of 35 missiles and 20 of 23 attack drones. It listed several cruise and ballistic missiles used by Russia.
Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine for nearly two hours until 6:30 a.m. (03:30 GMT), when the air force announced that the skies had cleared.
Neighboring NATO member Poland moved Polish and allied aircraft to secure its airspace during the attack.
The massive bombing came a week after Russia launched its largest airstrikes on Ukraine since all-out war broke out in early 2022, just as many children were returning to school.
Mother Yevgeniya, 33, tried to be brave as she took her six-year-old daughter Margot to her first day of school.
Celebrations in Ukraine are similar to those in Russia, with parents buying large bouquets of flowers for their young children.
“Her hands were shaking and we woke up. Our apartment started to smell like smoke, but we still had to go to school, right? We are Ukrainian,” she said, as her young daughter nodded.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that the boiler room of a Kyiv water plant was partially damaged, and the entrance to a metro station that doubles as a bomb shelter in the Svyatoshinsky district was also damaged, but the station remained operational.
There are several universities and schools in the area.
The city’s military authorities said the attack injured three people, two of whom were taken to hospital.
Mayor Klitschko said cars were burned across the city and a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivsky district was also burned.
Emergency workers rushed to several locations in the Svyatoshensky, Solomyansky and Holosivsky districts, where fragments of the destroyed missiles fell.
Solomyansky is home to Kiev’s main railway station and main airport. The historic Svyatosinsky district is located on the western edge of the city, while the Holosivsky district is in the southwest.
Katerina, 34, came to the market in Svyatoshino to buy flowers for her children who were about to go to school.
“Some of the florists were here at five in the morning and they had to stop and hide,” she said.
Crimean Tatar leader Refat Chubarov said on Telegram that an Islamic center was also severely damaged in the attack.
Reuters reporters in Kiev heard a series of loud explosions that sounded like they were coming from air defences, some in the central area.
Last Monday, Russia fired more than 200 missiles and drones into Ukraine, killing seven people and striking energy facilities across the country in what Kiev called the “largest” attack of the war.
Russia denies targeting civilians in the 30-month war.
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