Kyiv: At least one person was killed and seven others injured after a Russian drone struck a residential apartment building in Kyiv on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as he accused Russia of intensifying attacks across Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the victim was a 14-year-old boy and expressed condolences to his family. Emergency responders continued dealing with the aftermath after the fire at the site was extinguished.
“This morning, the Russians struck a residential apartment building in Kyiv with a drone. Tragically, a 14-year-old boy was killed. My condolences to the family and loved ones. Seven more people were injured. The fire at the site has been extinguished, and first responders continue to deal with the aftermath. An absolutely savage and sickening strike, devoid of any military logic,” Zelenskyy said in his post.
He said attacks had been reported across several parts of Ukraine, with eight regions coming under attack since the start of the day.
“Since this morning, there has been a virtually constant threat of strikes across our regions. In total, eight regions have come under attack since the start of the day. One person was killed in Odesa in a double-tap strike on a postal facility. In Zaporizhzhia, a medical clinic was struck while people were inside. There are also people injured in the Sumy and Mykolaiv regions,” the Ukrainian President said.
In a separate post, Zelenskyy highlighted the impact of Russian strikes on medical facilities, saying a maternity hospital in Kyiv had been damaged during an earlier missile attack.
“Yesterday, during the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, a maternity hospital was damaged. That night, little Kyrylo was being born in the shelter. Today, I came to the maternity hospital to congratulate the family, speak with the women who are here preparing to give birth, and support our medical workers,” he said in his post.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for increased international pressure on Moscow, warning that Russia could escalate the conflict without greater economic and political pressure.
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Zelenskyy cited the scale of Russian missile and drone attacks since the beginning of the year.
“Since the beginning of this year, Russia has already used more than 2,100 missiles of different types against Ukraine. More than 950 of them were ballistic missiles. In 8 months of this year, Russia used 63,000 attack drones of different types against Ukraine. And more than 7,700 of them were jet-powered “shaheds” – truly destructive and dangerous weapons,” he said.
Zelenskyy also said Ukraine was targeting Russia’s ability to finance its military campaign.
“For the first time in Russia’s history, we now hear that its pride – its oil industry – is running on fumes. But oil itself is not Ukraine’s target. Not gasoline or diesel. Not factories or ports as such. Our target is Russia’s ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive,” he added.
The latest attack adds to the continuing toll on civilians as the Russia-Ukraine conflict enters another winter, with Kyiv urging its Western partners to maintain sanctions and increase pressure on Moscow while pursuing diplomatic efforts to end the war.
