Kyiv: missiles on Monday evening after a night of drones – paramedics caught under fire
After a night of drone and cruise missile attacks, Kyiv was hit again by ballistic missiles on Monday evening. An ambulance crew came under fire, and preliminary reports indicate casualties. Exhaustion has been growing in the capital for weeks, and many families are asking themselves whether to stay.
What happened
At around 9.45 p.m. local time on Monday, several explosions were heard in Kyiv, minutes after the Air Force warned of incoming ballistic missiles. According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, there were strikes in several districts, including near a metro station in the Desnianskyi district. Around 10.40 p.m., Obozrevatel reported, based on preliminary information, one person killed and five injured who were taken to hospital. Authorities were still assessing the situation.
An ambulance on its way to a call came under fire. Two crew members were not critically injured according to initial reports and kept working. At a clinic in the Dniprovskyi district, windows of the intensive care unit were shattered, with no one hurt there. The night before, Russia had attacked Kyiv and its surroundings for hours with drones and cruise missiles; according to Znaj, several thousand households were temporarily left without power and repair crews worked at full speed.
The mood on the ground
The attack hits a city that has barely had any rest for weeks. The Kyiv Independent reported last week that air raid alerts have covered most of the day for more than a month; on 30 September the alert lasted over 20 hours. Kyiv increasingly resembles cities near the front, and with winter coming, fears are growing of strikes on infrastructure that could cut heat, power and water for days.
Mothers told the paper how they spent nights in the metro with small children because their building has no shelter, or how a child spent almost the whole kindergarten day underground during alerts. Some have moved to western Ukraine; others are staying but have bought generators or renewed documents in case they need to leave. One family cancelled birthday parties at shopping centres because of the drone threat.
A Kyiv Independent report on the air defence around the capital shows how stretched the defenders are as well: crews are fighting new jet-powered drones so fast that there are often only seconds to react, and they work shifts of up to 20 hours.
Voices from the media
Sources
This article was rewritten from local-language sources. Every statement about the mood is based on the linked reports.