At least one person was killed and 12 wounded in a Russian ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev early this morning, the Associated Press reported, citing local officials.
The attack damaged a historic cathedral, six embassies and other buildings in the Ukrainian capital.
Moscow said the attack was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian territory with US-made weapons.
At least three loud explosions were heard in Kiev shortly before dawn. Ukraine's air force said it had intercepted five short-range Iskander ballistic missiles fired at the capital.
The city administration said the attack had knocked out heating in 630 residential buildings, 16 medical facilities and 30 schools and kindergartens. Falling debris from the missiles caused damage and fires in three neighborhoods.
“We ask citizens to act immediately upon reports of a ballistic missile threat, as there is very little time to find cover,“ the air force said.
Falling debris in central Kiev also damaged about two dozen high-rise office buildings, as well as the St. Nicholas Catholic Church, one of the city's landmarks, and the Kiev National Linguistic University.
A shock wave from a suspected low-flying missile interception also shattered windows and caused other damage to six embassies, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
A Russian missile strike on Kiev earlier today caused significant damage to the embassies of Albania, Argentina, Palestine, the Republic of North Macedonia, Portugal and Montenegro, a Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy, quoted by Ukrinform.
“Today, several embassies in Kiev were damaged in the shelling. All of these embassies are located in one building, which suffered significant damage from the missile strike. Windows, doors and ceiling elements were broken“, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the attack was in response to a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia's Rostov region two days ago. According to the ministry, six American ATACMS missiles and four Storm Shadow air-to-ground missiles were used in the attack. (Storm Shadow), provided by Britain.
Ukraine then said it had targeted an oil refinery in Rostov as part of its campaign to strike Russian infrastructure supporting Russia's military operations.
Meanwhile, the town of Rylsk in Russia's Kursk region came under Ukrainian missile attack on Monday, with casualties, Reuters reported, citing a local official.
Ukrainian troops still hold part of Kursk region after crossing the border in a surprise attack on August 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual news conference yesterday that they would certainly be pushed out, but declined to give a precise date for when that would happen.
In the nearly three years since the war began, Russia has regularly shelled civilian areas in Ukraine, often in an attempt to cripple the power grid and undermine Ukrainian morale, the AP said. Ukraine has struggled to keep the larger Russian army on the front lines and has tried to strike at infrastructure that supports Russia's military operations.
The use of Western weapons to strike Russia has deeply irritated the Kremlin. Ukraine fired several long-range American missiles at targets in Russia for the first time on November 19 after Washington eased restrictions on their use.
In response, Russia used a new hypersonic missile called the Oreshnik for the first time. Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted that the missile could be used against government buildings in Kiev, although there is currently no information that the Oreshnik missile has been used a second time.