One person was killed on Friday December 20 in a Russian missile strike on kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, where AFP saw smoke rising above several locations in the city. “According to initial information, one person was killed,” the head of the city’s military administration, Sergiy Popko, said on Telegram. He added that Russian forces used Kinjal and Iskander missiles during the attack which occurred around 7:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m. in France).
“As a result of the enemy attack, two people were hospitalized and debris fell in four areas, setting cars and buildings on fire,” kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. “Emergency services are working everywhere,” he added.
The explosions came after warnings from the Ukrainian air force of an imminent ballistic missile attack. “Ballistic missile coming from the north!” warned the army in a message on Telegram, almost three years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a war which has already claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Vladimir Putin ready for a “high-tech duel”
The Russian army said it attacked kyiv “in response” to a Ukrainian strike carried out on Wednesday against a Russian factory with Western missiles, a red line for Moscow. “In response (…), a group strike was carried out this morning with long-range precision weapons against the control center (of the Ukrainian special services) SBU, the Luch design bureau, based in kyiv, which designs and manufactures Neptune missile systems,” the Russian army said in a statement, assuring that “all targets were hit.”
Ukrainian authorities also reported missile attacks on Friday in the southern city of Kherson, where one person was killed and six injured, as well as several other towns and villages.
During his annual television press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday proposed to the West a “high-tech duel of the 21st century” between the Russian “Orechnik” missile and their anti-aircraft defense means.
Russian forces are advancing in the Kharkiv region, bordering Russia, with the aim of reconquering the city of Kupiansk. The city was occupied by the Russian army at the start of its invasion in February 2022, then liberated by Ukrainian forces during a dazzling counter-offensive in September of the same year. Koupiansk, an important railway junction in this sector, is crossed by the Oskil River, which has become the de facto front line between Russian and Ukrainian troops. The Russian army, which has been advancing more rapidly in recent months in eastern Ukraine, has increased its attacks in this area, which it has been trying to recapture for months, in particular trying to cross the river again.