Ukrainian air defences repelled an attack with hypersonic missiles on Kyiv at rush hour launched by Vladimir Putin’s military, say defence sources.
Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine’s capital as many people were heading to work or school.
Missile debris came down in three districts of Kyiv during rush hour on Monday morning after air defences engaged the incoming Russian strikes.
No major damage or casualties were reported from the attack in which Russia fired hypersonic Kinzhal missiles at Kyiv, Serhiy Popko, head of the city’s military administration, said, citing a preliminary assessment.
Earlier, he had warned: ““The air raid alert is on! Air defence units are in operation.”
Debris damaged the roof of a multi-storey residential building in the Solomianskyi district in the city’s west and one piece of debris came down on the territory of a school, civic chiefs said.
Missile debris also fell onto an open area in the central Shevchenkivskyi district and damaged the roof of a car in the southern Kyiv district of Holosiivskyi.
Russia has staged long-range missile strikes on Ukraine throughout the war Putin launched in February 2022.
Drone attacks have become regular, almost nightly occurrences.
Russia conducted an overnight drone attack on the area surrounding the capital, city authorities said.
Around 15 drones were used in the assault, they added.
Putin’s forces are making grinding progress in seizing more land in the Donetsk province of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
In recent days, they captured the town of Vuhledar after a battle lasting around a year.
The advance by Putin’s army is coming at a huge cost in Russian soldiers killed or wounded, according to British intelligence chiefs, with Ukrainian forces also suffering heavy casualties.
Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of civilians have also been killed by the war, started by Putin, who is due to meet Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday, according to reports.
British military intelligence chiefs claimed on Monday that the average daily number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded in Ukraine hit a new monthly war high during September 2024.
In its latest battlefield update, the Ministry of Defence in London said: “The average daily loss rate (casualties) was 1,271 per day compared to the previous monthly war high of 1,262 recorded in May 2024, according to Ukrainian General Staff reporting.
“Since the start of the conflict Russia has likely suffered over 648,000 casualties.”
The UK defence chiefs put the increase in the casualty rate since May 2024 “almost certainly” down to the extension of the “combat zone to include both Kharkiv and Kursk military operations, and increased intensity along the frontline”.
Ukrainian troops launched a surprise attack in August into the Russian Kursk province and Putin’s military has so far been unable to force them to retreat.
Britain, the US, Ukraine and other allies are fighting an information war against Russia so their briefings need to be treated with caution, but are far more believable than the Kremlin propaganda.
The accuracy of Ukrainian figures on Russian casualties could not be independently verified.
The Ukrainian military said on Monday it struck an oil terminal in Russian-occupied Feodosia in Crimea overnight.
“The Feodosia terminal is the largest in Crimea in terms of transshipment of oil products, which were used, among other things, to meet the needs of the Russian occupation army,” Ukraine’s military.
Ukraine has targeted Russian troops in Crimea and forced Putin’s Black Sea Fleet to retreat after losing several ships and its Sevastopol headquarters being targeted.
Both sides in the war have made increasing use of drones, for long and short range attacks.
Ukraine has been pleading with America to allow long range missiles supplied by the West, including Britain’s Storm Shadows, to be launched at targets deep inside Russia.
Kyiv wants to strike Russian air bases, far from the frontline, being used by aircraft which have been deploying “glide bombs” targeting Ukrainian cities and towns with devastating effect.
Putin’s military has again been targeting civilian infrastructure, including electricity systems, as the winter approaches.
