Russian drones smashed into a school in Kyiv and a key bridge over the Dnipro River yesterday, triggering fires in the capital, officials said.
The school was struck early in the morning, but all pupils were in a shelter at the time and no injuries were reported, city authorities said.
As Russian forces engaged in practically round-the clock attacks on the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two drones hit the Southern Bridge around noon.
A new strike late in the evening damaged a support, part of the road surface and protective structures around the metro crossing the bridge.
Pictures posted on unofficial Telegram channels showed part of the roadway ablaze.
At the school, a video posted on Telegram showed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy examining the charred building and conferring with staff.
Earlier, rescue workers picked through debris near the building where windows were shattered.
CCTV footage verified by Reuters showed a bright fireball erupting after the drone slammed into the building’s third floor.
“They (Russians) spare no one,” said school director Valentyna Chorna, who added that more than 100 students had been present during the attack.
“Children are our future, the future of our nation. In order to destroy a nation, of course, they need to destroy children.”
Russia has denied targeting civilians although it has repeatedly struck cities and towns across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in 2022.
The attack on the bridge, in particular, represents an escalation because such structures had recently been considered a ‘red line’, political analyst Vadym Denysenko wrote on Facebook.
Kyiv Mayor Klitschko said emergency crews were tackling the damage.
“Metro specialists are shutting down the power on the metro tracks,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Metro and surface public transport over the bridge have been stopped.”
Russia has been deploying jet-powered drones, which fly higher and faster than conventional drones and are more difficult to intercept for Kyiv’s air defences, which are already suffering depleted munitions.
On Wednesday, Russian forces unleashed what Ukrainian officials described as the start of a cold-weather strike campaign against Ukraine’s power grid.
The Institute of Nuclear Research in Kyiv said in a statement that it had been struck by a drone late on Wednesday, but that radiation levels remained normal.
On Monday, a Russian drone smashed into the National Academy of Sciences in downtown Kyiv, killing one and wounding several others.
Russia has intensified air strikes as its overall frontline advances have slowed this year.
One person was wounded yesterday in a Russian attack on a business centre in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, regional officials said. City administration chief Serhiy Lysak said infrastructure had been damaged but gave no further details.
Odesa and the surrounding region have been a frequent target of attacks aimed partly at choking Kyiv’s export revenues.
Russia, which says it strikes only military targets, reported that it had attacked a data centre in Odesa and a cargo vessel in the nearby port of Chornomorsk.
Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on Russia, striking oil refineries and major online retailers to try to undermine Moscow’s war effort.
One man was killed when a Ukrainian drone exploded in the town of Graivoron in Russia’s Belgorod region, local authorities said yesterday.
Ukraine deployed its FP-7 tactical ballistic missile in combat for the first time, Zelenskiy said yesterday.
“Ukrainian tactical ballistic missile FP-7. First combat use,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram. “Thank you for the result. Next – production.”
He did not say where the FP-7 had been used in combat or against what target.
Russia frequently uses ballistic missiles in strikes on Ukrainian targets, and Ukraine has viewed development of its own tactical ballistic missiles as an important element in ensuring its defence needs after four and a half years of conflict with Moscow.
The need for effective interception of ballistic missiles has intensified as Kyiv prepares for an expected sustained Russian assault in the coming winter.
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