VLADIMIR Putin’s latest barbaric missile assault has targeted civilians in Kyiv with at least nine people killed and dozens of civilians seriously injured.
Six children were rushed to hospital following the deadliest attack on Ukraine’s capital since Russia’s full scale invasion over three years ago, according to local officials.
GettyPeople were awoken by the sound of air raid alarms and missile strikes in Kyiv as Putin rained down with attacks[/caption]
APUkrainian searchers clear the rubble of a home left decimated by the attacks[/caption]
ReutersAn alleged ballistic missile explodes in the sky over Kyiv[/caption]
GettyA woman desperately tries to escape the chaos after the missile attacks[/caption]
At least nine people were tragically killed with over 63 wounded, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.
Of these, 42 were taken to hospital in a serious condition – including a pregnant woman.
Fears are mounting that as recovery operations across the capital continue, more bodies may be found.
The deadly strikes hit five districts across Kyiv and quickly turned the city into a burning warzone.
Flames could be seen from miles away with dozens of buildings left crumbling to the ground due to the strikes.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko believes falling drone wreckage was responsible for triggering a number of fires.
Close Volodymyr Zelensky aid Andriy Yermak added: “Putin shows only a desire to kill. The attacks on civilians must stop.”
Footage shows the rescue workers desperately trying to clear the collapsed buildings into the early hours of Thursday morning.
Shell shocked civilians were seen being led away from their family homes and residential blocks clutching onto their belongings.
Many were alerted of the strikes as they peacefully slept.
Thousands quickly escaped their homes and managed to find cover in temporary air raid shelters across the city.
Many gathered in underground rail stations as others huddled in school basements together.
Kyiv was last hit by missiles in early April when at least three people were wounded.
Blasts were also reported in the city of Kharkiv with at least two people were injured, the mayor added.
Just hours earlier, Russia unleashed more deadly strikes on civilians in Ukraine — killing nine when a kamikaze drone hit a bus.
The lethal attack in Marhanets, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, injured another 30 people.
Further drone strikes triggered numerous fires and hit civilian infrastructure in the strategically vital Black Sea port of Odesa.
Another blitz injured six in central city Poltava, while Iranian-designed drones set off fires around the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv.
The Zaporizhzhia region was again targeted — a day after a strike on a civilian factory injured 38.
Ukraine’s air force warned this morning that they believe all the country’s regions are now under the threat of aerial attacks.
APA Ukrainian serviceman carries a dog out of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike[/caption]
ReutersRescuers continued to search for people hours after the initial blasts rocked the capital[/caption]
APCivilians gathered in a school basement being used as a makeshift shelter[/caption]