Sawt Falasteen - Russian attacks on Kyiv kill 9, wound more than two dozen

Russia and Ukraine have ramped up attacks on each other in recent months.

As Moscow has increased its long-range strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities, Kiev has pressed its allies for air defence support.

The United Nations found June was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since April 2022.

Ukraine's state emergency service said the latest Russian attack struck five regions of Kyiv, killing nine people and wounding 28 others, including four children.

"Explosions in the city. Kyiv is under ballistic missile attack. Stay in shelters!" Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote earlier on Telegram.

AFP journalists reported hearing more than 10 explosions in a row, triggering car alarms on the streets.

Russia's defence ministry said Saturday it had launched a "massive strike" in the Kyiv region, targeting "military-industrial complex enterprises and logistics centres".

In Kyiv's Darnytsky district, the attacks damaged multiple buildings and vehicles, with authorities reporting seven people killed and 14 wounded in the area.

Two people were killed and eight others were wounded in Solomiansky district, where strikes damaged a five-storey residential building.

"Everything was smashed, the windows, everything," 75-year-old resident Kateryna Kravchenko told AFP of her apartment.

"I can barely stand. I don't know how I’m going to get through all this."

Another resident, identified only as Oksana, said her plan was to leave.

"You can't stay here after something like this," the 46-year-old said. "What guarantee is there that it won’t happen again?"

- More than 100 rescued -

Photos posted to Telegram by the state emergency service showed firefighters spraying water into what appeared to be a residential building.

Other images showed rescue workers with flashlights sifting through rubble.

The emergency service said Friday morning that 105 people in Kyiv had been rescued from impacted areas.

While Kyiv has faced near-nightly attacks, Ukraine has also escalated its retaliatory strikes on Russia in recent months, partly to pressure Moscow to the negotiating table after nearly four-and-a-half years of war.

Russia's ministry of defence on Saturday said its air defence systems intecepted and destroyed 274 Ukrainian drones overnight.

And Russian online retail giant Wildberries said Friday its logistics facility in Volgograd caught fire after an overnight attack -- the latest in a series of strikes on the company's facilities.

Kyiv has accused the e-commerce giant -- which employs thousands of people and has become a key part of the economy -- of storing drone parts and helping the Russian army.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump this week for talks.

Zelensky said following the meeting that Trump had agreed to license the production of Patriot missiles to Ukraine.

But the US president said Friday that Washington would have to be "very careful" about giving Ukraine a license to produce the missiles.

On Saturday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia's attacks show that Ukraine "urgently needs additional air and missile defense systems and interceptors".

"It is the battle for the skies that will define the trajectory of this war. The stronger the air shield over Ukraine, the closer peace becomes," he said.

U.Shaheen--SF-PST