BBCUkrainian officials say three people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Kiev last night.
The ballistic missile landed just before authorities sounded the alarm. At 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT), shortly after the previous air raid warning ended.
If you visit the site, you can see the large crater from the road outside the business center in the Shevchenkivskyi district in the heart of the city. Either a second missile or very large fragments.
It is unclear what the target of the attack was, which left other buildings in the area littered with rubble and broken glass.
Officials previously reported that four people were killed in the attack.
Next to the main crater, Ukrainian forensic experts were examining missile fragments in a heap of twisted gray metal on the pavement.
Andriy Kulchytsky, director of the Military Institute of the Kiev Institute of Science and Technology, told the BBC that the crater was caused by a direct hit from an Iskander-M ballistic missile.
“This particular site shows one impact,” he explained. “There were further attacks and debris was cleared, where the missile hit the road directly.”
“Missile fragments have specific characteristics and markings. The number allows you to determine the source.”
Mr. Kulchytsky said the projectile landed before the warning sirens sounded because the ballistic missiles flew too fast for the sirens to react in time.
The business center was empty when the missiles fell, it was a new building until 2022 and no one has occupied it since.
Everything around was similarly damaged, including the local McDonald’s.
The explosion nearly destroyed a nearby dental clinic. Inside, workers are sifting through broken glass and mess, recovering what they can.
One woman was removing ornaments from a plastic Christmas tree that was still standing.
“It’s happened before, but it’s never been as serious as this,” she said.
When asked how she felt, she shrugged. “We got used to it.”
A young man from a nearby apartment block described the explosion early this morning.
“There were three explosions in quick succession, then a big fire lit up in the sky and the building shook,” Oleksandr said.
“I woke up right away. I felt the walls shaking. When the third hit came, it was pretty scary.”
Emergency teams and police were deployed everywhere and main roads were blocked on Saturday morning.
Video posted online shows a car engulfed in flames and water speeding straight into a flooded street.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said air defenses were operational around the Ukrainian capital.
It is the second deadly attack on Kiev this month. A strike broke out in the city on New Year’s Day, leaving two people dead.
Meanwhile, six people were injured in a Russian airstrike in the southern city of Zaporizhia on Saturday, local authorities said. One woman was reported to be in serious condition.
The airstrikes are the latest in a war that began after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
they follow many people Earlier this week, Ukraine launched an attack on Russian territory.
The strikes came just days before U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration, and many Ukrainians are concerned about Trump’s pledge to reduce U.S. military and financial support for the crisis-hit country.
The president-elect argued during his campaign: He planned to end the conflict on his first day as president.But he has since said it may take six months.
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reiterated his country’s dependence on U.S. support as Russian airstrikes and frontline fighting continue.
