Kyiv hit by deadly Russian missile and drone attack

At least two people have been killed and 54 injured, including children, in an overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, the mayor says.

Vitali Klitschko says falling drone wreckage triggered a number of fires in the city, and there are fears that a number of people may be trapped under the rubble of a destroyed residential building.

Ukraine’s state emergencies service DSNS later reported nine killed and 63 injured, citing preliminary data.

Blasts were also reported by local officials in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, which also came under attack. At least two people were injured.

In a post on social media, Mayor Klitschko wrote that six children and a pregnant woman were among those injured in the overnight Russian attack.

“Fires broke out in six locations,” he said, adding that there “people are under the rubble” of a destroyed residential building.

Rescuer teams were seen combing through the wreckage as they searched for survivors.

The worst-hit was the western Svyatoshynskyi district of the capital, Klitschko said.

Footage has emerged on social media purportedly showing missiles hitting Kyiv, triggering huge blazes.

In Kharkiv, about 40km (25 miles) from the Russian border, two people were injured, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.

He said “private houses” were damaged in the overnight Russian missile and drone attack.

Ukraine’s air force warned that virtually all the country’s regions were under the threat of air strikes.

The Russian military has not commented on the reported attacks.