Russian drones attack Kyiv for second night, officials say

By Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters) -Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian capital for the second night, injuring four people, officials said early on Thursday.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said drones had damaged several dwellings and other buildings, including a kindergarten.

City officials warned residents of a possible missile attack on the capital.

On Wednesday, missile and drone assaults throughout the country killed six people, including two children, and forced nationwide power outages.

"At 7:20 a.m. there was an explosion, and within a moment, I started to feel pain on my face. I immediately started screaming. When I swiped my face, I thought I felt tears on my hand, but I was bleeding," Nadiia Zinchuk, a 24-year-old shop employee, told Reuters near a building hit in Kyiv.

Officials described the assault as an attempt to destroy the country's energy system as winter approached in the more than 3-1/2-year-old war.

"Most regions of Ukraine were targeted," Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk said. "This is the second such attack in a month, indicating a methodical campaign by the enemy to destroy Ukraine's energy sector ahead of winter."

Hrynchuk said Russia was also targeting repair teams working at energy facilities.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it had struck Ukrainian energy infrastructure in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian targets.

Ukraine's Energy Ministry said Hrynchuk spoke during the day to her U.S. counterpart Chris Wright, describing the aftermath of the attack and the country's need for additional equipment.

The ministry said the U.S. Energy Secretary offered Hrynchuk support to ensure Ukraine would get through the winter.

Russia launched 405 drones and 28 missiles during Tuesday night's attacks, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Air defence units shot down 333 drones and 16 missiles.

Ten people were rescued from a fire in a high-rise building in Kyiv's district of Dniprovskyi, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko, with a child among the five people admitted to hospital on Tuesday.

Officials said fires broke out in the districts of Desnianskyi, Darnytskyi and Pecherskyi, the last home to the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, a symbol of Ukrainian spiritual and cultural history.

NATIONWIDE POWER OUTAGES

Most regions of Ukraine experienced power outages as a result of the Russian attacks.

In the central region of Poltava, Russian attacks damaged oil and gas facilities in the Myrhorod district, the regional governor said.

In the frontline Southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, which has been subjected to continued strikes and shelling by Russian forces, 13 people were wounded in overnight attacks, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said on Wednesday.

City and regional officials have again started to roll out help stations, called "points of invincibility", where residents facing outages of power, heating and water can warm up, charge their phones and get food and hot drinks.

Russia has consistently attacked Ukrainian energy facilities since launching a full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, maintaining they are a legitimate military target in the war.

(Additional reporting by Yurii Kovalenko, Anna Voitenko and Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Lidia Kelly, Olena Harmash and Ron Popeski; Editing by Ed Osmond and Lisa Shumaker)