Russian bombardment of Ukrainian capital kills at least 3, including child

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a predawn missile barrage at the Ukrainian capital Thursday, killing three people, including a 9-year-old and her mother, and damaging apartment buildings, schools and a children’s hospital, officials said. It was the highest toll from a single attack on Kyiv over the past month.

A 33-year-old woman died as she and others waited to enter a locked air-raid shelter, which left the group at the mercy of falling missile fragments, according to her husband. Officials ordered an investigation.

The latest attack, using what Ukrainian officials said were short-range, ground-launched Iskander missiles, coincided with events scheduled in Kyiv to celebrate International Children’s Day. Those events were canceled.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down all 10 missiles, but falling debris caused damage and wounded 16 people, authorities said.

Wladyslaw Musiienko, Associated Press

Police on Thursday inspect a building damaged by a Russian night attack in Kyiv, Ukraine.

“Children’s Day has to be about safe childhood, summer, life,” Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, tweeted. “But today it is about new crimes of (Russia) against children.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that the dead included a 9-year-old girl, her mother and another woman.

At the air-raid shelter that was locked, Yaroslav Riabchuk said he and his wife of 17 years, Natalia, were outside when he ran around the back of the building to summon the guard in charge.

“I ran, but then an explosion happened,” Riabchuk said. “Shattered glass started falling, and I knew I had to run back. When I returned, it was over. There was a lot of blood, women, children.”

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said authorities were investigating. He ordered the heads of the city’s districts to immediately check if all the shelters in Kyiv were accessible.

Since the war started in February 2022, at least 525 children were killed and at least 1,047 wounded, according to the U.N.’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

“Sadly, as the world marks International Children’s Day, there is little to celebrate in Ukraine where civilians, including children, continue to pay a heavy price,” said Matilda Bogner, the mission’s chief.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry cited different figures, saying at least 484 children were killed and 992 wounded. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the discrepancies.

Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting Thursday with families via a video call at the Kremlin in Moscow.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with families that have many children via video link to mark the day. He vowed to maintain state subsidies and other measures to support them. When one of the participants in the meeting voiced confidence Russia would be victorious in Ukraine, Putin noted that “it will be so.”

“There is no doubt about it, because we are protecting our land, our people and our values,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took his quest for more arms and support to a sprawling summit of about 50 European leaders in Moldova on Thursday, ending up the focal point of an event that seeks to quell regional conflicts and shore up unity in the face of Russia’s war.

Separately, the Biden administration retaliated for Russia’s suspension of the New START nuclear treaty, announcing Thursday it is revoking the visas of Russian nuclear inspectors, denying pending applications for new monitors and canceling standard clearances for Russian aircraft to enter U.S. airspace.

The State Department said it was taking those steps and others in response to Russia’s “ongoing violations” of New START, the last arms control treaty remaining between the two countries, which are at severe odds over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The United States is committed to full and mutual implementation of the New START treaty,” it said.

Vadim Ghirda, Associated Press

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, shakes hands Thursday during a group photo during the European Political Community Summit at the Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova.

While Ukraine’s air defenses have become increasingly effective at intercepting Russian drones and missiles, many Kyiv residents are anxious and tired after weeks of sleepless nights.

Russia is likely seeking to degrade Ukraine’s air defenses by targeting launchers and forcing the Ukrainians to fire off expensive missiles, a Western official said on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

In the Desnianskyi district, debris fell on a children’s hospital and a nearby multistory building. Two schools and a police department were damaged. In other areas, windows were blown out.

Across Ukraine, a total of seven civilians were killed and 27 wounded over the previous 24 hours, the presidential office said Thursday.

Andrii Marienko, Associated Press

Members of the newly created National Guard unit train Thursday in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said groups of Ukrainian fighters attempted to enter Russia’s Belgorod region Thursday but were repulsed. The largest contingent consisted of about 70 men, five tanks and four armored vehicles, the ministry said.

A group that calls itself the Russian Volunteer Corps, and purports to include Russians fighting on the Ukrainian side, released a video claiming that they were on the border and about to launch a raid into the town of Shebekino in the Belgorod region.

A similar group that calls itself the Freedom of Russia Legion also announced a plan to launch a cross-border raid.

The two groups claimed responsibility for a cross-border raid last month that marked one of the most serious such attacks on Russian territory. The fighting with Russian forces prompted authorities to evacuate residents of a town near the border.