Air Strikes Kill Several In Ukraine As Russia Focuses Attacks On Energy Facilities
by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and , RFE/RL's Moldovan Service · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · JoinRussian missile and drone strikes killed at least four people, including a child, in Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight as Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of launching concerted attacks on energy infrastructure.
A child was found dead under the rubble following a missile and drone attack on Ukraine's Kyiv region, Governor Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram on September 30.
Private homes, warehouses, cars, and infrastructure facilities were damaged across the region, with fires also reported, he said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a "difficult attack" with almost 190 attack drones, as well as ballistic missiles targeting the capital.
"The main target was energy infrastructure in the capital and the Kyiv region. Residential buildings were also damaged," he said in a post on social media.
Added Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskiy: "Russia has escalated to massive strikes on energy infrastructure...Since summer, there's barely been a day without an attack on our energy infrastructure. But a combined strike of this scale hasn't happened since the end of last heating season."
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko noted that debris were found at the embassy of a Western country in central Kyiv following a Russian strike.
Ukraine's energy company DTEK did not provide details on the damage to Kyiv's energy infrastructure but said its crews had restored power to 8,000 households following the attack.
Ukraine's Air Force said Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with several ballistic missiles and 188 drones, with the Kyiv region being the main target.
Zelenskyy called for increased air-defense support, stressing that interceptor missiles save lives.
"Our defenders managed to shoot down some of the ballistic missiles. But unfortunately, there were also hits," Zelenskyy wrote on X.
"We must do everything to ensure that Russia's bet on ballistic missile and drone terror does not pay off," he added.
Meanwhile, Moldovan authorities said a drone entered the country's airspace on September 30 and exploded about 50 km outside the capital, Chisinau, amid a Russian attack on Ukraine, with no casualties reported, adding that they were investigating the incident.
In Romania, authorities monitored an aerial target near the Ukrainian border, east of Izmail, prompting two Spanish F-18 fighter jets serving in the NATO Air Policing mission to take off and monitor the situation.
In Poland, air traffic authorities said airports in Rzeszow and Lublin temporarily suspended air operations due to military aviation activity during Russian strikes on Ukraine.
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Tensions have been exacerbated in recent months by drone incidents and sabotage efforts ascribed to Russia, and Western intelligence reports have suggested Russia could potentially launch an attack targeting a NATO or European Union country in the coming months in an attempt to undermine their unity and weaken their support for Ukraine.
Russia said in a statement published through its embassies in Ireland and other countries on September 29 that it would be ready to resort to nuclear weapons if the Western alliance attempted to cut off Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave sandwiched between NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea.
Reuters quoted a written response by NATO to the Russian threat that said it was a defensive alliance committed to countering threats to its members from all directions and that Moscow should "cease its irresponsible nuclear rhetoric."
Increasing Russian Attacks
Russia has been intensifying attacks on the Ukrainian capital, launching consecutive days of missile and drone assaults, including during the daytime.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on September 30 that its forces carried out a “massive strike using long-range precision weapons and attack drones,” hitting what it described as a communications center and energy infrastructure supporting military production in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
Moscow has increasingly used jet-powered drones in attacks against Ukraine, resulting in Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities facing virtually round-the-clock drone attacks.
The Russian strike on September 28, which killed at least nine people and wounded more than 80, was one of the latest examples of the intensified attacks, according to Ukrainian officials. Russian forces struck apartment buildings, offices, data centers, and the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv in a daytime attack.
According to the Kyiv City Military Administration, 12 people have been killed and around 200 injured in Russian attacks on Kyiv over the past week.
The attacks followed a week of diplomatic efforts at the UN aimed at gaining traction for negotiations to end Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.
Air Strikes Kill Several In Ukraine As Russia Focuses Attacks On Energy Facilities
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