KYIV — Ukrainians preparing to celebrate the new year in the best possible way were hit by a new wave of Russian missile attacks on Saturday. The majority of the targets hit appeared to be civilian structures, including a now-uninhabitable hotel. The attack left at least 28 people injured and one dead across the country, Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
According to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Supreme Commander of Ukraine, 20 cruise missiles were fired from launchers on the ground and Russian Tu-95MS “Bear” strategic bombers flying over the Caspian Sea. Twelve of the missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses; six alone over the skies of Kiev, Zaluzhnyi said. However, an unknown number struck in Ukraine. The total is not yet known because an “undetermined number” of the ammunition malfunctioned and crashed somewhere in Russia, Ukraine’s general staff said.
Yahoo News visited impact sites in the Ukrainian capital earlier today. In one case, a missile scored a near-critical hit on the Alfavito Hotel in the central Pecherskiy district; in another, a parking lot in the middle of a civilian residential area.
Whole parts of the Alfavito building collapsed and rescuers searched through the rubble for survivors. The number of victims seemed to be less than expected, because the hotel was largely empty. Windows at the nearby National Palace of Arts, a large Soviet-era concert hall, were blown out by the blast.
The second missile strike site Yahoo News visited was in the Solomianskyi district, in the western part of the city. The bomb struck the central courtyard of a housing development, causing heavy damage to all buildings in the development. Cars in the parking lot were strewn with shrapnel and some Ukrainian citizens had already started patching up their battered homes. Others were packing their bags, because the damage or trauma was too great for a viable night in their homes.
“My dogs were terrified of the noise, but now they are fine,” Anna, a Kiev resident close to the blast, told Yahoo News. “I’m still drinking champagne later.”
Ukrainian explosives technicians were recovering the remains of the missile from the large crater, and volunteer groups distributed aid – an obscurely familiar routine now for all involved. An elderly man was killed in the attack, the only confirmed fatality in today’s attack, the mayor said.
The first explosions in Kiev were heard around 2 p.m. local time, and the targets, so close to the city center, seemed designed just hours before the holiday to sow both terror and physical damage. This year’s festivities in Ukraine are likely to be limited by a curfew, air raid sirens and more potential strikes. Despite the destruction on Saturday, the barrage of 20 missiles was a fraction of the 84 munitions that Russia fired into Ukraine on Oct. 10, beginning its campaign to destroy critical civilian infrastructure as temperatures plummeted.
In Kiev, many residents once again sought refuge in the city’s cavernous subway system, which was originally designed by Soviet architects to double as a bomb shelter. Residents who remained above ground counted at least eight blasting explosions in the center of the city. Most were apparently successful interceptions by Ukraine’s air defenses, including newly delivered advanced Western systems such as the German IRIS-T and the US/Norwegian NASAMS.
The city suffered power outages as the power was cut as a precaution to prevent further damage to the grid. Despite this, there was a palpable sense that it could have been much worse. “Ukrainian energy workers will do everything possible and impossible to ensure that Ukrainians have electricity on New Year’s Eve,” Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said.
In Kiev, power was restored to most of the city’s districts a few hours after the strikes, with water and communal heating systems also operating normally. “The capital’s life support system is operating normally,” Klitschko said in a statement on his Telegram channel.
