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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that 53 people were injured, including six children, and that buildings were damaged throughout districts in the part of the city lying on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River.
City authorities said that a hospital had been hit by falling debris and that an apartment building was evacuated after a fire broke out. Domestic water service was cut off in many parts of Kyiv, indicating that civilian infrastructure had been damaged and may have been a target.
The overnight airstrikes followed a major cyberattack Tuesday that knocked out Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile phone and internet service provider, cutting off service to more than 24 million subscribers. In some cities, the hacking attack disabled air alert systems, which warn the public to take cover. Elsewhere, streetlight controls were disabled. By Wednesday evening, Kyivstar had begun gradually restoring service, the company said.
The Wednesday strike on Kyiv also confirmed — if there were any doubts — a White House assessment, released by the National Security Council on Tuesday, that President Vladimir Putin remains intent on conquering Ukraine and subjugating its people — even after nearly two years of brutal war, with tens of thousands of Russian soldiers killed in battle and many more wounded.
“Russia has once again confirmed its title as a shameful country that releases rockets at night, hitting residential areas, kindergartens and energy facilities in winter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote Wednesday on Telegram.
“There will be a response to all this — undoubtedly,” Zelensky added.
Russian forces now occupy about one-fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, including Crimea, which Moscow invaded and illegally annexed in 2014. Putin’s troops, however, have made virtually no gains this year after being pushed back in the northeast Kharkiv region and the southern Kherson region in the fall of 2022.
But with a stalemate largely settling in on much of the nearly frozen battlefield, Ukraine faces daunting challenges. In Washington, some Republicans are blocking President Biden’s push for an additional $60 billion in aid for Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Zelensky met President Biden and members of Congress in Washington but failed to achieve any breakthrough on the stalled military and economic assistance.
On Wednesday, Zelensky visited Norway, where he expressed profound gratitude for the country’s support particularly in providing NASAMS, a short-to-medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by a Norwegian manufacturer, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, and Raytheon.
“Norway is one of the global leaders in supporting Ukraine,” Zelensky said in Oslo, where he met Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. “Strengthening the air shield remains a critical priority for us. This is literally the basis of life for the majority of Ukrainians now — air defense.”
Wednesday’s attack marked the second time in recent days that Moscow unleashed multiple ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital, possibly marking a change in strategy by the Russian military, which previously had depended largely on cruise missiles and explosive drones to target Kyiv.
Ballistic missiles can cost millions of dollars to manufacture, far more expensive than drones. Ballistic missiles can be more effective at evading air defense than drones and conventional cruise missiles, however, due to their speed and trajectory.
“Just yesterday, President Biden and I agreed to work on increasing the number of air defense systems in Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote in his post Wednesday. “The terrorist country demonstrated how important this decision is.”
Anastacia Galouchka contributed to this report.
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