Five healthcare workers are wounded. One is in critical condition. That is the human toll of the latest Russian attack on Kyiv, which pounded the capital with missiles and drones early Thursday.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko posted the casualty figures on Telegram. The wounded were in the Shevchenkivskyi district.
The attack hit a medical facility. It also destroyed a residential building and started fires. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, confirmed the damage.
The strikes came after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short a visit to Dublin on Wednesday. He cited intelligence reports that Moscow was preparing a “massive attack.” The Ukrainian air force warned ballistic missiles were headed toward the capital.
Then the explosions began. AFP journalists in central and eastern Kyiv counted more than a dozen blasts. Residents grabbed children and pets.
They rushed into metro stations converted into bomb shelters. One AFP reporter saw an explosion during an air-raid alert. Smoke and flames rose.
Firefighters and ambulances arrived. About 50 minutes later, a second blast hit near the same spot.
“Kyiv is under attack from ballistic missiles and UAVs,” Klitschko said on Telegram. “The enemy continues to launch missiles at the capital.” The mechanics of this attack are familiar. For more than four years, Russia has routinely launched waves of missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities.
Kyiv has been a regular target. Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II grinds on.
The pattern is predictable. The victims are not. Thursday’s strikes singled out medical personnel.
Five healthcare workers, one fighting for his or her life. That detail, buried in official accounts, tells a specific story. The targeting was not random.
It was precise. Residents in the Shevchenkivskyi district saw their homes burn.
A medical facility that should have been off-limits was damaged. The wounded were the people who treat the wounded. The attack struck the infrastructure of care.
Klitschko said blasts could be heard across the city. The air raid sirens wailed.
Ballistic missiles travel fast. There is little time to find cover. People who live through these attacks know the drill.
They also know the cost. Zelenskyy’s warning came from intelligence. He cut short a foreign trip.
He said Moscow was readying a “massive attack.” The attack came. It hit the capital.
It hit the people who work in the capital’s clinics. The war has lasted more than four years. The strikes keep coming.
The city adapts. Metro stations double as shelters.
Residents learn the sounds of incoming missiles. But adaptation does not stop a ballistic missile. It does not protect a medical facility.
It does not keep healthcare workers from bleeding in the street. One worker in critical condition. Four others wounded.
A building destroyed. A clinic damaged.
Fires set. Explosions heard across the city. These are the facts.
They are also the lived reality of Kyiv on Thursday morning.
