Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv under heavy Russian attack as missiles and drones hit Ukraine; 11 killed

At least 11 people were killed in Russian strikes on Wednesday according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky including five when a missile destroyed an apartment block in the north of the countryEmergency services picked through the rubble of the destroyed fivestorey building in Pryluky in the Chernigiv region with fears that the death toll could riseThere may still be people under the rubble President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media postFirst responders are doing everything possible to find every personTwo people were killed when missiles slammed into highrise buildings in Dnipro and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine while two others lost their lives in Oleksandriya he addedIn the capital Kyiv strikes killed two peopleZelensky had warned the public on Tuesday night that Russia was planning massive strikes particularly against the countrys energy infrastructureThe Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively he said on Wednesday calling it one of the most vile strikes in the nearly fiveyear conflictKyiv has come under increased attack in recent weeks as winter approaches with air raid sirens wailing nearly constantly to warn of incoming Russian strikesResidents hunkered down in subway stations overnight hauling duffel bags sleeping mats and blankets after air alerts sounded warning of attacksWe grabbed our things and came here we live right next door Iryna Rybalchenko who works in a bank told AFP sitting on the platform wrapped in a dark hoodie and surrounded by bagsThe whole of Kyiv is in a state of fear We were stuck at work today and everyone our group chats our bosses were messaging us to be carefulRussia launched at least 50 missiles and 130 drones overnight against several regions including Dnipropetrovsk Kyiv Kharkiv and Poltava Ukraines air force saidZelensky said that although some were shot down ballistic missiles were the greatest challenge and new air defences were a vital necessity to help Ukraine defend itselfTearing Kyiv apartThe two victims in the capital died in a fire in the densely populated Darnytskyi neighbourhood as a result of Wednesdays attack Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko saidHe had warned last week the capital should now be on a war footing as the enemy was tearing Kyiv apart with strikes on bridges and energy infrastructureThe renewed attacks had triggered scheduled power cuts on Tuesday which plunged parts of Kyiv into darkness to ease the pressure on the battered gridA familiar rumbling sound of the generators used to get through power cuts filled the streets again bringing back memories of the previous winter when systematic Russian attacks regularly cut power and heatingIn the evening Zelensky warned residents to monitor for air raid sirens saying in his nightly address that there is updated intelligence information regarding the preparation by the Russians of a massive strikeMilitary monitoring channels also said they expected a largescale Russian attack combining cruise and ballistic missiles with fastmoving jetpowered dronesZelensky said the military was ready to respond to the extent that our defence systems allowThe air force said in the morning that it intercepted five ballistic missiles as well as 39 cruise missiles and over 100 dronesUkraine has been struggling to down the new and fastmoving jetpowered drones as well as the ballistic missiles that are harder to interceptThe children were absolutely terrified Whenever theres heavy shelling we try to head underground Daria Medvedeva 36 told AFPThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever