Russian strikes killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens in Kyiv in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday called “one of the most horrific attacks” on the capital.

Zelensky said “an entire section of an apartment block” was destroyed and rescuers were searching under the rubble for possible survivors.

AFP journalists heard drones flying over the city and explosions ringing out as Ukrainian air defence systems opened fire during the Russian barrage.

Dozens of Kyiv residents were taking shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv, sleeping on mats, exchanging information on the drone and missile threat or reassuring pets, AFP journalists reported.

Some 27 locations in Kyiv were hit, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said.

One person was also killed and 10 wounded in a strike on Odesa, with Zelensky saying that a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles were used in the strikes nationwide.

“Kyiv has faced one of the most horrific attacks,” Zelensky wrote on Facebook.

“Right now in Kyiv, efforts are underway to rescue people from under the rubble of an ordinary residential building — it’s still unclear how many remain trapped,” he said.

He urged the international community not to “turn a blind eye”.

Russian President Vladimir “Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war. He wants the war to go on,” he said.

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said in a social media post: “This is how Russia fights — it kills civilians in ordinary homes, deliberately.”

Source: AFP