Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraines Kyiv killed at least 1, injured 12

A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Friday killed at least one person and injured 12 others, officials said.Moscow claimed it was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons.At least three loud blasts were heard in Kyiv shortly before sunrise.

Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted five Iskander short-range ballistic missiles fired at the city.The attack knocked out heating to 630 residential buildings, 16 medical facilities, and 30 schools and kindergartens, the city administration said, and falling missile debris caused damage and sparked fires in three districts.“We ask citizens to immediately respond to reports of ballistic attack threats because there is very little time to find shelter,” the Air Force said.During the almost three years since the war began, Russia has regularly bombarded civilian areas of Ukraine, often in an attempt to cripple the power grid and unnerve Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, Ukraine, struggling to hold back Russia’s bigger army on the front line, has attempted to strike Russian infrastructure supporting the country’s war effort.The falling debris in Kyiv smashed into the city center, causing damage to around two dozen high-rise office buildings as well as the Catholic Church of St.Nicholas, which is a city landmark, and the Kyiv National Linguistic University.What may have been the blast wave from an intercepted low-flying missile also blew out windows or caused other damage at six embassies, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.The Russian Ministry of Defense said the strike was in response to a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia’s Rostov border region two days earlier.

That attack used six American-made Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, missiles and four Storm Shadow air-launched missiles provided by the United Kingdom, it said.That day, Ukraine claimed to have targeted a Rostov oil refinery as part of its campaign to strike Russian infrastru...