Russia launched 315 drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said was “one of the largest” attacks on the capital Kyiv, as officials said a maternity ward in the southern port city of Odesa had been hit.
Seven districts of the capital were damaged by the Russian attacks, which burned high-rise buildings, homes, cars and warehouses, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, who said it was a “tough night for all of us.”
Russian drone strikes wounded four people, according to Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko.
“Today was one of the largest attacks on Kyiv,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace.”
Air raid sirens blared for hours and Kyiv residents heard regular explosions through the night, and air defense systems have been working non-stop in the city center, a CNN producer said.
At least two men were killed and nine wounded in the strikes on Odesa, according to a Telegram post from the region’s Prosecutor’s Office. Earlier, a Russian attack struck a maternity ward, according to according to Andriy Yermak, Chief of Presidential Staff.
Video footage from Reuters showed a woman in hospital scrubs sweeping shards of broken glass from the maternity ward that was struck.
A 78-year-old Odesa resident, Violetta, who preferred to be identified by her first name only due to security concerns, told CNN it was “a terrible night.”
“My garage with my car is destroyed… We’ve had a terrible time. Thank God I’m not hurt. I heard the siren in time and ran into the hallway to hide. It was just in time, because the roof of my apartment collapsed,” she said, standing next to her car covered by piles of rubble.
“I heard other explosions in Odesa, but nothing compares to this, it’s so close. My neighbor, a boy, was wounded, his shoulder was cut by glass, and last night they took him to get stitches.
Lyudmila, 60, described the frightening loud bangs and scenes of glass and plaster flying everywhere when the drones hit.
“It’s very scary because it’s close by. Drones were flying around all the time, banging and banging. It was very scary, but in four years this is the first time we’ve been hit. It’s very hard mentally,” said Lyudmila, who also preferred to only use her first name.
Russia also launched two KN-23 ballistic missiles and five Iskander-K cruise missiles in the overnight attack, Ukraine’s Air Force said.
The overnight attacks follow Russia’s biggest drone strike on Ukraine on Monday, where Russia fired 479 UAVs in an overnight aerial assault, surpassing the highest number of drones Moscow has launched in a single day for the second consecutive weekend.
This story has been updated with the latest developments.
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