June27,2022:Russian air strikes hammered Ukraine’s capital Kyiv for the first time in weeks, slamming into an apartment block and kindergarten and killing at least one person with others trapped in destroyed buildings.
Up to four explosions shook central Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday.
“The Russians hit Kyiv again. Missiles damaged an apartment building and a kindergarten,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the president’s administration.
Deputy Mayor Mykola Povoroznyk said one person was killed and six wounded. He said explosions heard later in other parts of Kyiv were air defences destroying further incoming missiles.
There had been no major strikes on Kyiv since early June.
The city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said on the Telegram messaging app that some people were trapped in the rubble of a nine-storey apartment block.
“They have pulled out a seven-year-old girl,” Klitschko said. “She is alive. Now they’re trying to rescue her mother.”
A Ukrainian air force spokesperson said the strikes were carried out with long-range missiles fired from Russian bombers more than 1,000km (620 miles) away in the southern Russian region of Astrakhan.
‘Symbolic attack’
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Klitschko said the missile fire on Kyiv was a “symbolic attack” in the run-up to a NATO summit set to take place on Tuesday.
Klitschko added the air strikes were reminiscent of ones that took place during the late April visit of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who went on to describe the conflict as a “senseless war”.
Russian missiles also struck the central city of Cherkasy, which until now had been largely untouched by bombardment, according to regional authorities, who said one person was killed and five others wounded.
Russia’s defence ministry said it used high-precision weapons to strike Ukrainian army training centres in the regions of Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, and Lviv – an apparent reference to attacks reported by Ukraine on Saturday.
Russia denies targeting civilians, but Ukraine and the West accuse its forces of war crimes in a conflict that has killed thousands, sent millions fleeing Ukraine, and destroyed cities.
United States President Joe Biden called the attacks “barbarism” after he arrived in Germany for a Group of Seven (G7) summit.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said G7 countries should respond to the latest missile strikes by imposing more sanctions on Russia and providing more heavy weapons to Ukraine.
