Ballistic missiles exploded in the clear blue skies on Monday, and frightened pedestrians hurried to get off the streets of Ukraine’s capital as the battle unfolded over their heads in a rare daytime missile attack on Kyiv.
Air-raid alarms sounded shortly after 11 a.m. local time, sending parents racing to get their children to safety and hospital workers to take cover in bomb shelters.
Powerful explosions echoed around the city within minutes, as Ukrainian air defenses sprang into action.
Children wearing backpacks started to run and scream when booms resounded on one Kyiv street, a video widely shared by Ukrainian officials on social media showed.
Even in this city where people have adapted their daily routines to life under threat, the barrage — the 16th this month and the first daytime assault in many weeks — was a jolting reminder that the Ukrainian capital remains a major target, and recalled some of the worst bombardments against Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Moscow has been steadily deploying attack drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, adjusting its tactics to try and inflict maximum damage, according to Ukrainian officials.
On the other hand, Kyiv residents described the terror caused by a daytime missile attack launched by Russia on the Ukrainian capital Monday morning, with many racings to take cover in underground shelters and to help get children to safety.
More than 41,000 people took shelter in subway stations when the air raid sirens began ringing out shortly after 11 a.m. local time, city officials said. The aerial assault was the 16th time this month that Ukraine’s capital has come under attack, though it was the first daytime strike for many weeks.
Natalia Nevidoma, 53, a cleaning lady at an upscale restaurant in the city center, said she was at work when the sirens began.
