Following days of warnings about Moscow's plans for a big assault, Russian drones and missiles pounded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities early on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and injuring over 100, Reuters reported.
In a conflict that has lasted more than four years, Russia has attacked Ukraine's infrastructure and electricity supplies, while Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russian oil installations this year. They both deny attacking civilians.
In reaction to a drone attack on a dormitory in the Russian-held part of Luhansk, Ukraine, last week, the Kremlin threatened to launch "systematic strikes" on targets in Kyiv, killing 21 people. The attack was disputed by Ukraine.
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According to Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv and also a former world heavyweight boxing champion, nocturnal attacks in the city resulted in four fatalities and 65 injuries, including children. Photographs showed massive explosions and plumes of smoke rising over tall buildings.
Speaking at the scene where one of the drones struck, Kyiv resident Olha Mudra, who was with her six year-old daughter Natalia said, "We couldn't understand what was happening - some kind of apocalypse?"
"Everything was covered (with debris), everything in smoke, you could see nothing," she continued, standing in front of damaged automobiles and a demolished residential complex.
Klitschko continued, "A nine-story apartment block was among the buildings set ablaze by suspected missile debris, and a suspected missile strike on a 24-story apartment building caused a collapse, leaving people probably trapped under the rubble."
"In the Obolon district, cars are burning after being struck by falling missile debris," Klitschko told reporters. "There are also fires at two locations in open areas, including one near a kindergarten."
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Witnesses reported that thousands of people seeking refuge poured into the Kyiv subway system early on Tuesday, some of them bringing beds, pets, and other items, as the sound of defence systems fending off Russian attacks filled the air.
"All I can hope for is that this conflict will soon come to an end, but I have given up," Valeriia Nafechinko, a 32-year-old resident of Kyiv who was taking refuge in a metro station, sighed heavily and remarked, "I don't know, it's hard. Sorry for getting emotional."
After the morning, more explosions were heard in the capital, according to Reuters.
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