The attack was conducted with Iranian-made Shahed UAVs and cruise missiles early in the morning, the Ukrainska Pravda website reported.
It was Russia’s sixth consecutive aerial assault on Kyiv and one of over 20 missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital over the past month, The Kyiv Independent website reported.
Two injured, 'including a child'
Two people, an 11-year-old child and a 68-year-old man, were injured as a result of the attack, officials said.
Ruslan Kravchenko, who heads the Kyiv region’s military administration, wrote on the Telegram social messaging app: "As a result of falling debris, two people, including a child, were injured. The adult was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery; there are no threats to his life.”
Kravchenko added: “The falling debris damaged five houses. Minor damage was reported in three houses — broken windows and damaged facades. Two of the houses caught fire, but they had been extinguished."
In addition, debris damaged several cars as well as windows "in one of the office premises," while several “grass and forest litter fires” broke out in two districts of the province, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Ukraine knocks down 15 missiles, 21 drones over Kyiv
Ukraine’s Air Force said it had destroyed all 15 cruise missiles and 21 attack drones launched by Russia overnight against the Kyiv region, Ukrainska Pravda reported.
Officials said: "First, the Russian occupiers attacked with Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones at around 23:00 on the night of 2 June. They approached from the south, using the terrain and the Dnipro riverbed.”
Ukraine’s Air Force added: “At around 03:00, Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, fired by Tu-95MS strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea, were already in Ukrainian airspace. They came in from the north, attacking Kyiv, manoeuvring to mislead our air defences."
"The occupiers are not stopping their attempts to terrorise the Ukrainian capital with strike drones and missiles," the Ukrainian Air Force also said, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Russian shelling kills three in Ukraine’s south and east
Over the past day, two people were killed and a further 12 injured due to Russian shelling in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne reported.
In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, one person was killed and two were injured on Thursday, and a further 16 people were wounded in the southern Kherson region, according to officials.
At midnight on Friday, Russia shelled the city of Nikopol in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, local officials said.
Regional governor Serhiy Lysak said in a Telegram post, as quoted by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper: “Shells from heavy artillery flew into the city. People are unharmed. Rescuers are examining the area. The enemy is insidious and does not abandon its tactics of terrorising the civilian population.”
Meanwhile, the Russian military has set a deadline of September 1, 2023, for residents of the temporarily occupied Kherson region to receive a Russian passport, Ukraine’s General Staff said.
Those who refuse to receive a Russian passport could have their homes cut off from electricity supply, have their property confiscated, be forcefully evicted from their homes or deported, the Russian army has threatened, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported, citing Suspilne.
Western Russian regions under attack?
Meanwhile, two long-range UAVs attacked fuel and energy infrastructure in Russia's western Smolensk region overnight on Friday, but no injuries or fires were reported, according to Russian officials.
The strikes hit the towns of Divasy and Peresna near the regional capital Smolensk, some 270 km from the Ukrainian border, the region’s governor said on Friday, but did not say who was responsible, the Reuters news agency reported.
Two villages in Russia’s western Bryansk region were shelled, setting a house on fire, but no one was injured, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Friday.
Bogomaz placed the blame for the attack on Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Ukraine has denied it is responsible for attacks within Russia, Reuters noted.
Friday is day 464 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Kyiv Independent, Ukrainska Pravda, The Guardian