A series of strong explosions rocked Kyiv overnight into Thursday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that intelligence data showed Russia was planning a “massive” overnight strike.
Kyiv officials and the country’s air force said Russia was launching ballistic missiles and drones at Ukraine, which destroyed and set fire to residential buildings.
At least five medical workers were wounded, including a paramedic who is in critical condition, when an ambulance substation was struck, according to the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Rescuers were rushing to the scene of a destroyed nine-story building where people were trapped inside, Klitschko said.
Some residents were sheltering in metro stations.
Earlier, Zelensky warned that “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has been preparing a massive strike against Ukraine for some time.”
“That is exactly the threat we are facing tonight,” Zelensky said in a post to X.
He asked Ukrainians to “be especially careful – stay safe and protect your families and children – be sure to take shelter and pay attention to air-raid alerts.”
