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Russian strikes killed at least four people in and around Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday, authorities said, in a barrage of attacks which hit the city’s energy infrastructure and cut power.
Heavy explosions rang out across Kyiv throughout a night of almost continuous air alerts warning people to take cover in bomb shelters from ballistic and cruise missiles backed up by drones.
Kyiv, home to some 3 million people, has faced several nights of sustained aerial barrages, as well as increasing daytime strikes in an escalation of the more than four-and-a-half-year-long war.
In Moscow, Russia’s defence ministry said it had conducted “a massive missile and drone strike” on Kyiv and the surrounding region that targeted the power infrastructure.
Ukraine’s main energy provider DTEK confirmed that the grid was damaged and supplies were affected.
“DTEK’s power engineers managed to quickly restore electricity to 8,000 households,” the company said in a statement, calling it “another difficult night for the capital.”
Ensuring energy supply is critical as the cold winter months approach. Russian strikes on the sector last year cut light and heating as temperatures plunged to as low as -20C.
The prospect of a repeat has left many in the city considering whether to stay and calls for the vulnerable and disabled to relocate.
Wednesday’s strikes hit residential buildings and businesses, sparking fires and widespread damage to property and cars, authorities said.
City mayor Vitali Klitschko said a driver at local utility firm KyivTeploEnergo was killed when a warehouse was hit, while two others were killed elsewhere.
The emergency services said a child was found dead under the rubble of a residential building that was destroyed in the wider Kyiv region.
Russia has been deploying newer jet-powered drones that move faster and are harder to intercept than the traditional models, which are based on Iranian Shaheds.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed to Ukraine’s allies for more military support, including US-made interceptors to combat ballistic missiles.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday he was “alarmed” by the scale of the escalating daily attacks in Ukraine and civilian casualties on both sides.
Additional sources • AFP