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Ukraine was unable to shoot down a single Russian missile during an overnight attack that left at least 17 people dead in Kyiv and the surrounding region, according to a daily air force report published on Wednesday.
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The Russian army sent 115 drones and fired 28 high-speed missiles, including ballistic ones, the air force said, at a time officials have lamented a drastic shortage of anti-ballistic munitions.
President Voloydmyr Zelenskyy confirmed in a post on social media that “the main target of the attack was the warehouses of civilian enterprises, there were also strikes on infrastructure, a railway station.”
“Ballistics interceptors are something that could have saved the lives of those who died today. It is very important that partners realise that delays in their delivery or unwillingness to transfer anti-ballistics leads to such terrible victims and destruction,” he added.
The highest number of casualties from the night-time attack by Russian forces in the Kyiv region was recorded near the Kvitneva railway station in the Brovary district.
People did not manage to board the last train, which was delayed, and remained on the platform. Eight people were killed, according to Vitaliy Bigun, head of the Brovary District State Administration.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said that Moscow did not target any military facilities, only civilian sites.
“These strikes have no military purpose – this is terrorism,” he said.
“Russia is expanding its campaign of terror by deliberately targeting businesses that serve millions of people. Ukrainian manufacturers, commercial facilities, and logistics hubs came under attack.”
Ukrainian non-military businesses hit
Koretskyi said the government is setting up a meeting with Ukrainian businesses targeted by Russian strikes.
Key facilities belonging to Epicentre, the county’s leader in the DIY segment, ROZETKA, the largest online retailer and e-commerce marketplaceand Nova Poshta, Ukraine’s largest private postal and courier company have been destroyed.
According to Nova Poshta Russian forces used cluster munitions during the strike on its sorting centre in Kyiv.
Supermarket chain Silpo said six of its employees were killed when fires broke out at two distribution centres.
In a separate air strike on Tuesday, Russian forces destroyed a warehouse complex where products belonging to Ukrainian ice cream manufacturer Lasunka were being stored.