Four missiles hit the neighborhood from 6:30 a.m. (03:30 GMT), Edouard Chkouta, who lives in this wealthy neighborhood in the northwest of the Ukrainian capital, located not far from the center, told AFP.
A residential building was hit and the top three floors – out of a total of ten – were destroyed, AFP noted on the spot. Several fires broke out, releasing thick brown smoke. Firefighters fought for several hours to bring them under control.
“I saw with my own eyes the wounded coming out,” said Mr. Chkouta.
“I went to the balcony, I saw missiles falling and heard a huge explosion, everything vibrated,” Yuri, 38, who also lives in this complex, told AFP.
One of the missiles hit a nearby kindergarten, apparently with no casualties.
According to a new report provided Sunday afternoon by the mayor of kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, “a body was found, six inhabitants were injured, four of whom were hospitalized, including a seven-year-old girl”.
The girl was “out of danger” after being extracted from the rubble and then operated on at the hospital, he said. His mother, whom rescuers took several hours to extricate, was “in a state of moderate gravity”, he added.
AFP assisted in the rescue of the girl’s mother. Authorities presented her as a citizen of the Russian Federation, in her 30s.
Mr. Klitschko initially spoke of four injuries. He did not give details of the deceased.
This is the third time since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that this district has been targeted by missiles. He was first hit in mid-March, then on April 28, during the visit to kyiv by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. A Ukrainian journalist from Radio Liberty had been killed.
The district is home to an arms factory, called Artem. Founded at the end of the 19th century, it notably produces air-to-air and anti-tank rockets and large-caliber missiles, according to a Ukrainian specialized military site.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed at the end of the day that this factory “was the target” and that a Russian missile had “precisely hit (its) workshops”. He claimed that the damage to the nearby residential building was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian air force told him that the strikes had been carried out by missiles, “probably X101”, fired by TU-95 and TU-160 bombers from the Caspian Sea. Moscow did not provide information on the weapons used.
– “Intimidation” before the summit –
Mr. Klitschko accused the Russians of wanting to “intimidate the Ukrainians (…) as the NATO summit and the G7 summit approached, the two events occurring in Bavaria and then in Spain from this Sunday and until Thursday.
A little later, he called on the inhabitants of the capital – many of whom do not obey the almost daily alerts urging them to seek shelter – to be vigilant.
The enemy “is trying to intimidate us, to sow panic and despair. Let’s stay vigilant! Let’s respect the basic security rules that can save our lives. As soon as you hear the warning signal, go down to the shelters, don’t don’t neglect your safety,” he said.
Shortly after the strikes, dozens of residents gathered on the sidewalks in front of the affected building, some in tears, others in bathrobes or accompanied by their dog, after the emergency services called on them to evacuate, noted the AFP.
Irena, 32, stepped out onto the sidewalk with her 17-month-old son Makar. “We went down with our emergency backpack which has been near the door since the start of the war because we had to evacuate,” she said.
The last Russian strike on the capital dates back to June 5, and targeted a factory on the southeastern outskirts, injuring one person.
