Explosions shook Kyiv before dawn on Sunday after officials warned of a ballistic missile attack. The blasts were heard around 4 AM local time, two days before Ukraine marks four years since Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022.
Kyiv's military administration head, Tymur Tkachenko, said the capital was under ballistic attack. He urged residents to stay in shelters. Soon after, the air force extended the alert across the country, warning of a wider missile threat, AFP reported.
Emergency services were deployed across the city. Tkachenko later said a residential building caught fire after being hit. Temperatures had dropped to nearly minus 10 degrees Celsius when the strikes took place.
Strikes spread, Poland scrambles jets
The attacks triggered heightened alert beyond Ukraine. Poland's Operational Command said it scrambled fighter jets after detecting long-range Russian aviation carrying out strikes on Ukrainian territory, as per AFP.
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Hours earlier, explosions were reported in Lviv, a western city near the Polish border. Blasts on a central shopping street around 12:30 AM killed a policewoman and injured 15 others. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi called it 'an act of terrorism' but gave no further details.
Kyiv has faced repeated missile and drone strikes in recent weeks as Russia intensifies winter attacks on energy and military sites.
War enters fourth year amid diplomacy
Ukraine will mark four years of war on February 24. Russia currently controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory, mainly in the eastern Donbas region.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is "definitely not losing" and remains focused on victory. He claimed Ukrainian forces recently regained about 300 square kilometres of territory, though this could not be independently verified, AFP reported.
The latest strikes come as the United States pushes for talks to end the war. Ukrainian, Russian, and US envoys have met several times since January without a breakthrough. Zelenskyy plans further consultations with European leaders. He is also seeking deeper involvement from Middle Eastern countries and Turkey as diplomatic efforts continue.
