Russia strikes Kyiv with missiles, Ukraine says 6 embassies damaged; Portugal condemns attack

Russia on Friday launched an attack on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv killing at least one person and leaving several others injured. The attack came in response to Ukraine’s strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons.

The ballistic missile attacks also targeted six diplomatic missions in Kyiv, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said soon after the airstrikes.

During the almost three years since the war began, Russia has regularly bombarded civilian areas of Ukraine, often in an attempt to cripple the power grid and unnerve Ukrainians.

What do we know about the attacks?

According to a report by the Associated Press, the attacks occurred during the wee hours of Friday when residents heard at least three loud bomb blasts.

Ukraine’s air force said that it intercepted five Iskander short-range ballistic missiles fired at the city.

The ballistic missile attacks knocked out the heating systems of 630 residential buildings, 16 medical facilities and 30 schools and kindergartens, the city administration said.

“We ask citizens to immediately respond to reports of ballistic attack threats because there is very little time to find shelter,” the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Apart from this, debris fell on Kyiv’s city centre, smashing into several high-rise buildings and damaging the Catholic Church of St. Nicholas, which is a city landmark.

Why did Russia attack Kyiv?

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the strike was in response to a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia’s Rostov border region two days earlier. That attack used six American-made Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, missiles and four Storm Shadow air-launched missiles provided by the United Kingdom, it said.

That day, Ukraine claimed to have targeted a Rostov oil refinery as part of its campaign to strike Russian infrastructure supporting the country’s war effort.

Attacks damage diplomatic missions

The Russian attacks damaged at least six diplomatic missions located in Kyiv. These are Albanian, Argentine, North Macedonian, Palestinian, Portuguese and Montenegrin.

Portugal has strongly condemned Russian strikes that targeted Ukraine’s capital and has summoned the charge d’affaires of the Russian Federation.

“There was a very intense attack by the Russian Federation on the city of Kyiv, and one of the explosions caused relatively light material damage to the diplomatic facilities of several countries, including the chancery of the Portuguese embassy,” Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel told local media.

With inputs from agencies