Around 140 people have been injured in Kyiv, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Among the dead is an American citizen, according to Mayor Vitalij Klytjko, who has declared a national day of mourning on Wednesday.
It was the most hellish night in memory for our area, says 20-year-old Alina Sjtompel to AFP.
It is indescribably painful that our people are going through this.
Earlier, it was incorrectly reported that 16 people had been killed in the attacks.
"During the search and rescue operation, body parts were found that were initially registered as different people," says Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko as an explanation for the previous death toll, according to the news agency AFP.
At the same time, he warns that "there are still people under the rubble" and that the rescue efforts continue.
Explosions thundered in many places in Kyiv in several rounds during the night. The Russian attacks lasted for almost nine hours and included nearly 500 projectiles of various kinds, writes the newspaper The Kyiv Independent.
”Killing civilians intentionally”
According to local authorities, 27 locations in the capital were hit, including several apartment buildings. Fires broke out in several places and rescue personnel searched for hours for people buried under the rubble.
Ukraine condemns the "lack of reasonable response" from the international community and demands stronger reactions.
"This is how Russia fights – they intentionally kill civilians in ordinary homes," writes President Volodymyr Zelenskyj's adviser Andrij Jermak on X.
"Why? And how many more of our people and children must die?"
Deaths in Odessa
President Volodymyr Zelenskyj calls it a "terrible" attack that destroyed an entire section of a multi-story building.
Russia claims, on the other hand, that they attacked "military-industrial" sites near Ukraine's capital during the night, reports AFP. This is contradicted by images of destroyed apartment complexes and civilians, many of them elderly, being carried away on stretchers.
Several regions and cities were attacked during the night, including Odessa in southern Ukraine. There, one person has been killed and nearly 20 injured in Russian drone attacks, says Governor Oleh Kiper.
Several explosions have also been heard in Zaporizjzja in southeastern Ukraine, according to the governor there. Also, Tjernihiv in northeastern Ukraine has been attacked with cruise missiles, according to local authorities.
