© Reuters. Firefighters work at a site of an apartment building damaged during a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 13, 2023. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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By Sergiy Karazy and Valentyn Ogirenko
KYIV (Reuters) -Russia’s second missile assault on Kyiv this week injured at least 51 people and damaged homes and a children’s hospital, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded in Washington for more help for his country.
Ukraine’s air defence systems downed all 10 ballistic missiles targeting the capital about 3 a.m. (0100 GMT), Ukraine’s Air Force said on the Telegram.
Falling debris caused injuries and destruction in four of Kyiv’s districts along the Dnipro River, which cuts through the capital, officials said.
Windows and entrances were shattered by debris at a children’s hospital in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi district, but based on initial assessments, there were no casualties, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
Debris also hit several residential buildings in the Dniprovskyi district, injuring at least 51 people, including six children, Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on Telegram. The district’s water supply was also damaged.
The number and type of missiles Russia used in the attack were not immediately known. The attack followed a salvo of ballistic missiles that targeted Kyiv early on Monday and injured four people.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Republicans that they would give Russia a “Christmas gift” if they failed to provide additional military aid to Zelenskiy, whose meeting with a top U.S. lawmaker concluded without a commitment for more support.
There was no comment from Russia about the attack on Wednesday, which also damaged buildings in Kyiv’s Desnyanskyi, Darnitskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the nearly 22-month-long war that Russia launched against its neighbour in February 2022.
The Air Force said that it also shot down all 10 Russian-launched attack drones over the Odesa region in Ukraine’s south.
Popko said 17 people, including seven children, were evacuated from a residential building in the Dniprovskyi district after debris hit a building and nearby cars, causing a fire.
He added that most injuries came from windows blown out by the blast wave.
“There are many injured,” Popko said, suggesting that the number of wounded may rise.
