21-3-2024 (KYIV) Kyiv came under a ferocious Russian missile assault early on Thursday, with the Ukrainian capital enduring its first large-scale bombardment in over a month. At least ten civilians were injured and residential buildings as well as industrial sites sustained damage, although Kyiv’s air defences managed to shoot down all 31 incoming missiles, officials reported.
The pre-dawn barrage, involving a combination of ballistic and cruise missiles, represented the heaviest attack on the city in recent weeks according to Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. “After a pause of 44 days, the enemy launched another missile attack on Kyiv,” he grimly confirmed while emergency crews rushed to address the aftermath.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko revealed two people, including an 11-year-old girl, required hospitalisation amid the citywide injuries. The Russian military employed strategic bombers and fired some missiles from its own territory, manoeuvring them through neighbouring regions before targeting the capital from multiple vectors in an apparent bid to overwhelm defences.
For nearly three hours, air raid sirens blared across the city as the bombardment unfolded. Despite the intensity, Ukraine’s air force commander reported all 31 missiles were successfully intercepted by Kyiv’s air defence systems. However, the impacts of falling debris proved devastating.
“Missile debris hit several residential buildings, industrial sites, and a kindergarten across the city,” Klitschko said. In Shevchenkivskyi, a central district, residents of an apartment block were swiftly evacuated after one unit caught fire from missile fragments. The blast shattered windows in nearby homes and ignited vehicles, leaving a trail of destruction.
New Russian missile attack on Kyiv. Over 30 missiles were shot down, including an air-launched ballistic missile. People were injured, and they are all receiving the necessary assistance.
Such terror continues every day and night. It is possible to put an end to it through… pic.twitter.com/iv0MWeLyiQ
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 21, 2024
As recovery efforts continued into the morning, the brazen attack underscored the persistent Russian threat to Ukraine’s capital nearly 14 months into the invasion. The bombardment not only shattered a relative lull in the wake of Kyiv’s recent battlefield successes, but served as a grim reminder that Vladimir Putin remains undeterred in his attempts to break Ukrainian resolve through indiscriminate strikes against urban centres.
