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KYIV, Ukraine – Russian forces launched drones and missiles at Ukrainian cities on Thursday, after each side blamed the other for an explosion in the Kremlin that sparked fears the war would escalate.
Dozens or more loud explosions and the sound of anti-aircraft gunfire rattled the capital, Kyiv, after Friday night, in the second consecutive night the capital was targeted after Russia accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack in the center of Moscow, an accusation Ukraine has strongly denied. .
At least two drones were spotted in Kyiv, and a video shared online showed one being shot down, prompting cheers from onlookers below in the Maidan, Kyiv’s central square. Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed in a statement that the drone had been shot down.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said falling debris started a small fire near the train station, but that it had been contained. There was no immediate information on possible casualties.
While Kyiv has experienced frequent and indiscriminate bombardment since Russia launched a full-scale invasion more than a year ago, it is rare for Russia to launch drones over the capital at night. The air raid alarm on Thursday evening was not nationwide, as is often the case, but focused only on Kyiv.
Explosions also rocked Kyiv on Thursday and regional officials said air defenses shot down Russian drones and ballistic missiles. Ukraine’s military’s southern command in Odesa said a drone had also been shot down there and provided images showing several handwritten messages “To Moscow” and “To the Kremlin”.
No casualties were reported in the incident. But in the southern region of Kherson, officials raised the death toll from Wednesday’s Russian attack to 23 people, making it one of the deadliest barrages in Ukraine this year.
The United States and Ukraine have both said they fear Russia will seek to launch an attack after Wednesday’s explosion in the Kremlin, which was allegedly caused by a drone.
Russia blamed Ukraine for the episode, calling it an attempt to kill President Vladimir V. Putin, and said it had the right to retaliate. Ukraine, which usually maintains a deliberate ambiguity about responsibility for the attack on Russia, categorically denies involvement and accuses Moscow of creating the incident as a pretext for further aggression and to encourage public support.
It was not clear who was responsible for the explosion, which happened 15 minutes later. The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued a warning on Wednesday that there is a heightened risk of Russian missile attacks, including on the Ukrainian capital and surrounding areas, citing “increased attacks in Ukraine and inflammatory rhetoric from Moscow.”
Early Thursday in Kyiv, three loud booms rattled windows around 2:30 a.m. local time and police cordoned off what appeared to be debris from missiles or drones shot out of the sky over the central neighborhood. Several nearby windows were broken, and the smell of smoke was in the air.
Russia attacked Odesa with at least 15 drones, Ukraine’s southern military command said. Ukrainians shot down 12, but three got through the air defense network and crashed into a dormitory for an educational institution. There were no reports of casualties, the Ukrainian military said.
In towns and cities closer to the front lines that spread across eastern and southern Ukraine, there were also reports of widespread shelling. The damage was assessed early Thursday morning.
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