One killed, three injured in new Kyiv strike

One person was killed and three injured when debris from a downed rocket hit a Kyiv apartment block Thursday, as Russian forces ramped up incursions into the embattled capital, rescuers reported.

Russian troops trying to encircle Kyiv launched early morning strikes on the city for several successive days, putting traumatised residents further on edge.

Emergency services said rescuers had evacuated 30 people from the 16-storey building in Eastern Darnitsky district after it was hit at about 5:02 am (0302 GMT), partially wrecking the upper edge of a Soviet-style block, including an apartment on the top floor.

“In Kyiv, due to the fall of the remains of a downed rocket, there was destruction and fire in a high-rise building,” the State Emergency Services of Ukraine said on Facebook.

AFP journalists at the scene confirmed residents were cleaning their balconies and apartments, throwing out shards of glass and debris, following the assault.

The incident happened just under two hours before the city emerged from a curfew imposed late Tuesday amid what Kyiv’s mayor called a “dangerous moment”.

Four people were killed in strikes on residential buildings in Kyiv on Tuesday, with one tower block engulfed in flames, while at least two people were killed on Monday.