Attack in central Kyiv kills three, officials say

Ukrainian officials said a nighttime Russian airstrike in Kiev killed three people.

At around 06:00 (04:00 GMT), residents of the city first heard two loud explosions before hearing air raid sirens. The missile had struck as ballistic threat warnings were issued urging residents to seek shelter.

The main damage occurred in the central Shevchenkivsky district, where there is now a deep hole in the road outside the district's commercial center.

A nearby military factory has been hit by Russian attacks multiple times, but the damage we saw was to civilian buildings. A couple was killed in their car on the street, an official said.

Officials earlier reported that four people were killed in the attack.

The subway station, nearby restaurants and businesses were also severely damaged, and emergency crews were clearing the remains of burned-out cars from the scene.

The business center's tall glass tower and main building had been damaged in previous attacks on the area and now only a shell remains after being hit by a second missile or very large fragments. It was empty when the missile hit.

Next to the main crater, a Ukrainian forensics expert examined fragments of the missile collected in a pile of twisted gray metal on the pavement.

Andriy Kulchytskyy, head of the military research laboratory at the Kiev Institute of Science and Technology, told the BBC that based on markings on the missile fragments, the crater was caused by a direct hit by an Iskander-M ballistic missile of.

“This particular site shows an influence,” he explains. “There were additional strikes and we have collected debris. Here, the missile hit the road directly.”

Mr. Kurczycki said the projectile landed before the sirens sounded because the ballistic missile was traveling too fast for the sirens to respond in time.

The facade of a roadside cake shop was blown up, with pastries and pies covered in broken glass.

A dental clinic next door was destroyed in the explosion. Inside, crews were working to recover what was still intact from the wreckage.

A woman removes baubles from a plastic Christmas tree that is still standing.

“This has happened before,” she told the BBC, “but never as serious as this.”

Asked how she felt, she shrugged: “We're used to it. This is the third year of the war.“

“There were three explosions in a row, and then there was fire in the sky and the building was shaking. It was very loud,” said a young man named Oleksandr as he left a nearby apartment building.

“I woke up immediately and I even felt the walls shaking. When the third hit came, it was really scary.”

Main roads were blocked on Saturday morning, but nearby streets were already busy with traffic a few hours after the strike. Outside the market there were old ladies selling chickens and gherkins, joggers and dog walkers.

But a passing pensioner told us she was scared.

“I didn't know where to run because you normally go to the subway to take shelter – but the subway was on fire.”

It was the second deadly attack in Kyiv this month A strike in the city on New Year's Day left two people dead.

Meanwhile, in the southern city of Zaporozhye, local authorities said a Russian attack on Saturday wounded 10 people. One woman is said to be in serious condition.

The attacks are the latest in a war that began after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

they follow several Earlier this week, Ukraine attacked Russian territory.

The latest attack comes just days before Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated in the United States, with many Ukrainians concerned about Trump's pledge to reduce U.S. military and financial aid to the troubled country.

the president-elect claimed during the campaign He will end the conflict on his first day as presidentalthough he later said he might need six months.

In recent days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reiterated his country's reliance on U.S. support as Russian airstrikes and frontline fighting continue.