(Reuters) -A major Russian attack on central Kyiv triggered a fire in a high-rise apartment building and targeted energy sites early on Friday, cutting power to parts of the capital, officials said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said nine people had been injured, with five of them taken to hospital. He said power cuts and disruptions to the water supply had hit districts on the east bank of the Dnipro River that runs through the city.
Pictures posted online showed apartments ablaze as firefighters moved into position. Fragments from downed drones also struck several parts of the city.
Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk said Russian forces had hit energy sites.
“Energy experts are taking all necessary measures to minimise negative consequences,” Grynchuk said on Facebook.
“As soon as safety conditions allow, energy experts will begin clarifying the consequences of the attack and conducting restoration work.”
Russian forces have focused on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent weeks as winter again approaches in the more than three-and-a-half-year-old war. A massive missile and drone attack last week hit several of Ukraine’s main gas production facilities, causing considerable damage.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said both drones and missiles had been deployed in the post-midnight assault on the capital.
Tkachenko said firefighters had brought a blaze triggered by a drone under control. The blaze had set apartments on fire on the 6th and 7th floors of a high-rise block in the central Pecherskyi district.
In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, drones struck several targets, injuring three people and triggering at least one fire in a dwelling, the regional governor said.
(Reporting by Gleb Garanich and Ron Popeski; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)
