Russian attack kills three in Kyiv / Photo: Tetiana DZHAFAROVA - AFP
Russian attack kills three in Kyiv
A Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital killed three people on Saturday, Ukrainian leaders said, in branding it a "heinous" attack, while Moscow called it "retaliation" for bombardments on its territory.
Russia frequently targets Kyiv with aerial attacks, but deadly strikes there are rare, as the capital is heavily protected by air defences and better able to fend off attacks than elsewhere in the country.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world to up its pressure on the Kremlin to force it to end the nearly three-year invasion.
Russia's defence ministry said the strike had hit a rocket-maker based in the Ukrainian capital.
"The Russian armed forces carried out a group strike with precision-guided weapons against Ukrainian military-industrial facilities, including the Luch Design Bureau that develops and manufactures long-range guided missiles," the Russian defence ministry said.
It called the attack "retaliation" for Ukraine's use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles in strikes on Russian territory.
At least three people were killed and three wounded, Zelensky said, revising down an earlier toll of four.
"Everyone who is helping the Russian state in this war must be put under such pressure that it is felt no less than these strikes. We can only do this in unity with the whole world," Zelensky said on social media.
City officials said the victims were two men, aged 43 and 25, and a 41-year-old woman.
AFP journalists in Kyiv saw a multi-storey building with windows blown out, debris strewn across the street, flooding, and the charred facade of a damaged McDonald's outlet.
Overnight, air raid sirens and the sounds of Ukrainian air defence systems had rung out across the capital.
- 'Heinous Russian attack' -
Calling it a "heinous Russian ballistic attack," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said it was "yet another proof that Putin wants war, not peace".
The Russian president "must be forced to accept a just peace through strength -- maximum economic and military pressure," he added.
Ukraine's air force said it had downed two Iskander ballistic missiles as well as 24 Russian attack drones overnight.
It said the downed missiles "fell" on Kyiv's central Shevchenkivsky district, damaging an industrial building, a subway to the metro and residential buildings, and temporarily knocking out local water supplies.
Ten people were also wounded in a Russian strike on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said.
Governor Ivan Fedorov called it a "cynical" attack on the centre of the city "while everyone was sleeping".
The rare deadly strike on Kyiv comes at a critical juncture in the conflict.
Both sides have been seeking to secure the upper hand in the conflict ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday.
Russia on Saturday claimed its forces had captured two villages -- Vremivka and Petropavlivka -- in the eastern Donetsk region, where its troops have been grinding forwards for months.
Ukraine has launched a wave of strikes against Russian energy and military facilities, including sites hundreds of kilometres behind the front lines.
The Russian governor of the region had earlier reported a fuel tank fire at an industrial site in the region after a Ukrainian drone attack.
In the neighbouring Kaluga region, officials also reported a fire at an industrial site, reported to be another oil depot, after a Ukrainian drone attack.
W.Prendergast--NG
