Two killed in Russian missile attack on Kiev, injured in Kursk, Russia
According to an AFP news agency reporter, air raid sirens wailed in Kyiv. At least two flashes were reportedly seen in the night sky. The Kyiv military administration announced on Telegram that the city's air defense systems had been activated to repel the attacks.
Parts of a rocket fell on residential buildings in the Kyiv suburb of Brovary, according to the state emergency service. A 35-year-old man and his four-year-old son were found dead in the rubble of a building during search and rescue operations. Three others were reportedly seriously injured.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that, apart from Kyiv, other Ukrainian regions were also affected by Russian air strikes. There were drone attacks in five other regions, the air force explained.
Russia launches almost daily massive drone and rocket attacks on cities in Ukraine, which has been defending itself against the invasion since February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been urging allies for weeks to quickly deliver new air defense systems.
Further Russian air strikes on Ukraine were expected in response to the Ukrainian army's advance in the Russian border region of Kursk. Some 20,000 people were reportedly evacuated from the Sumy region bordering Kursk.
Russian and Ukrainian troops have been clashing in the border area for the fifth day in a row. Since the start of their offensive on Tuesday, the Ukrainian army has reportedly advanced several dozen kilometers into the Kursk region, according to independent observers. President Zelensky mentioned the offensive in his evening address for the first time on Saturday, saying that Kyiv was trying to "shift the war to Russian territory".
Kyiv had remained silent about the offensive for several days, but Zelensky said that Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky had "reported on the front, our actions, and the shift of the war to the territory of the aggressor". The Ukraine is proving that it can "achieve justice and put pressure on the aggressor", Zelensky said. The USA, Kyiv's closest ally, had said it was not informed about the operation in advance.
On Saturday, Ukraine reported the lowest number of "engagements" on its territory since June 10. This could be seen as a sign that the offensive in Kursk is relieving other front sections where the Russian army had recently increased pressure.
In the face of the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, Russian authorities reportedly evacuated more than 76,000 people on their side of the border. Additional trains were deployed to the capital Moscow, and humanitarian aid was brought to the border region. "The war has come to us," a woman said upon arriving at Moscow's railway station.
Meanwhile, 13 people were injured in the city of Kursk in a Ukrainian air strike overnight on Sunday, according to regional governor Alexei Smirnov. Two of them were seriously injured when debris from a downed Ukrainian rocket fell on a building.
Previously, Russian authorities announced the start of anti-terror operations in the border regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk. Security forces and the army have been granted extensive powers. Citizens' freedom of movement is restricted, vehicles can be seized, phone calls can be monitored, and certain areas can be closed off. The Russian state anti-terrorism committee stated on Friday that Ukraine had launched an "unprecedented attempt to destabilize the situation in several regions of our country".
The AFP news agency reporter mentioned at least two flashes in Kyiv's night sky due to air raids. Following the attack, two people were reportedly found dead and three others seriously injured in a Kyiv suburb.
