Russia Launches Missile Attack Against Ukraine, One Killed in Kyiv

LATEST: Eleven people were killed during Russia's strikes on Thursday morning.

Russia launched yet another mass-missile attack against Ukraine with explosions reported in cities across the country and at least one person killed in the capital Kyiv.

Authorities in Odesa on the Black Sea coast comfirmed "several energy infrastructure facilities" were hit leading to "significant problems with electrcity supply".

Kyiv's mayor confirmed Vitali Klitschko one explosion in the capital, saying: "Explosion in Kyiv! Stay in shelters!"

Photo:Kyiv Post

He later added that due to parts of a rocket hitting a non-residential building in the Holosiivskyi district, one person, a 55-year-old man, had been killed and two more injured.

The Ukrainian army said shot down 47 out of 55 rockets and of the 20 that were fired at Kyiv, all were intercepted.

Emergency blackouts were introduced in Kyiv and the Dnipropetrovsk regions, said DTEK, Ukraine's largest private power produce.

Ukrainian military spokesman Yuriy Ignat told local media that several Russian Tu-95 bombers had launched the missile attack from northern region of Murmansk.

"We expect more than 30 missiles," he said, "which have already started to appear in various territories.

"Air defence systems are working," 

Ukraine's air force also said its units shot down a cluster of Iranian-made attack drones launched by Russian forces from near southern Ukraine.

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"Attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle) were launched from the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov... The enemy used 24 Shaheds. All 24 were destroyed," the air force said.

An air raid alert beginning around 7:45am Kyiv time and ended around four hours later.

The morning’s attack comes after a sleepless night for many in Ukraine as overnight, Russia launched a wave of Iranian-made kamikaze drones against cities including Kyiv. Ukrainian air defences shot down all 24 of them.

Russia’s last big missile attack against Ukraine was on Saturday 14 Jan. during which a rocket hit a residential building in Dnipro killing at least 46 people.

Though the Kremlin has launched such attacks regularly since October last year during its unsuccessful campaign to cripple Ukraine’s civilian energy network, today’s strikes could have further symbolic value for Russia, coming the day after Germany and the U.S. finally pledged heavy tanks for Kyiv.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated regularly.