Indian citizen among 12 killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that an Indian citizen was among 12 people killed in Russian missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, as strikes hit Kyiv, Odesa and several other regions, damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
In a social media post, Zelenskyy said the attacks began on Monday evening and continued overnight, with guided aerial bomb and drone strikes against Odesa and the surrounding region leaving thousands of families without electricity. "Overall, 12 people were killed, among them an Indian citizen, and dozens more were injured in the attack," he said, adding: "My condolences to everyone who has lost family and loved ones."
Zelenskyy did not identify the Indian citizen or specify where the person was killed.
Attacks across multiple regions
According to Zelenskyy, the strikes hit Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy and Dnipro regions. In Kyiv, seven people were killed in a strike on a railway depot. In Boryspil, a five-storey residential building was damaged and 50 people were evacuated, with four people killed and 13 injured in the city overall, he said. Businesses were also struck in Boryspil.
Nearly 350 first responders were involved in rescue and recovery operations in Kyiv and the surrounding region alone, Zelenskyy said. He said emergency crews battled multiple fires across the capital, while falling debris and direct hits damaged homes and businesses in several locations.
Zelenskyy said Russia used "a significant number of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles" in the attack, adding that "residential buildings and civilian infrastructure have been damaged." He also said a border crossing with Romania and export infrastructure were "deliberately damaged."
Air defence appeal
Zelenskyy blamed Russia for deliberately targeting civilians and called for increased air defence assistance. "Russia always plans its strikes specifically to cause as much destruction to people's lives as possible, and it succeeds only when air defence capabilities are insufficient," he said. "The number of victims of Russian terror directly hinges on every new package of assistance."
He thanked countries supporting Ukraine through the Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) and bilateral supplies, saying it was important that deliveries increase this fall.
Context: Modi-Putin meeting
The development came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan's Bishkek. Modi told Putin that the war needed to end for humanity's sake, according to a report. The Kremlin leader said Moscow was "moving forward along this path."
Additional reports
According to a Reuters report, nine people were killed and over a dozen injured in Russian air attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Tuesday. Eight people were killed and another five wounded in Kyiv, three of them children, and fires broke out in different locations around the capital, emergency services said on the Telegram messaging app. In Boryspil, one person was killed and another nine, including a child, were injured after missiles and drones damaged an apartment building and a business facility, Governor Tymur Tkachenko said on Telegram.
In Russia, a drone attack caused a fire in the port area of Ust-Luga, a major export outlet in the northwest, and Moscow was repelling drones, according to the same report.
Ukrainian forces said they destroyed or suppressed 199 aerial targets, including five ballistic missiles and 187 drones. Missile and drone strikes were recorded at 28 locations, while debris from intercepted targets fell at another 10 sites.
The overnight strikes marked the sixth consecutive day of Russian attacks on Kyiv, following an unprecedented stretch of air raid alerts that began last week. On 28 August, Kyiv recorded 13 air-raid alerts, the highest number since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.