Russia hit Kyiv with ballistic and hypersonic missiles overnight, damaging a children’s hospital, with people trapped in a shelter (UPDATE)
Russia launched a massed overnight attack on Kyiv with ballistic and Zircon hypersonic missiles on 20 August.
On 20 August, Russia launched a coordinated missile assault on Kyiv, employing both ballistic and hypersonic weapons. The explosions resonated across the city and surrounding regions, per Ukraine's monitoring channel Yeradar. This marks yet another round of mass missile attacks by Russia against Kyiv, as the country grapples with the challenge of intercepting such strikes due to limited Patriot missile resources.
The early hours saw Russian Kalibr cruise missiles targeting Ukrainian cities, with Novorossiysk port as their origin point. As of 1 AM, these cruise missiles were en route to Ukrainian targets. Each Kalibr missile carries a warhead weighing around 450 kg, based on Exilenova's information. Earlier, Ukraine's Defense Ministry disclosed that Russia was reverting to utilizing imported electronics for its Kalibr cruise missile guidance systems after failing to manufacture replacements in-house.
The ship-launched missiles' guidance boards consist of over 80-90% foreign-made components, as reported by Ukrainian authorities. Preliminary casualty figures indicate one fatality and three injuries resulting from the attack, with the Kyiv City Military Administration confirming these details. The strikes affected various districts, including damaging a children's hospital in the Solomianskyi district where individuals were reportedly trapped in a shelter.
Another five-story residential building was struck, while warehouses burned in Sviatoshynskyi district and non-residential structures were targeted in Darnytskyi. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported these developments. As the attack persists, Ukraine's air defenses are actively countering the ongoing threat, with warnings issued about ballistic weapons approaching from the north and northeast.
Monitoring channels also noted Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers taking off, a common precursor to cruise missile launches. However, the exact extent of the damage and total casualties remains preliminary at this stage.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
