At least 12 killed in overnight Russian strikes on Kyiv

At least 12 people have been killed in and around Kyiv overnight as Ukraine’s capital endured a sixth consecutive night of Russian drone and missile attacks aimed at shattering infrastructure and lowering the morale of the city.

Eight of the dead were reported killed in Kyiv, including seven at a railway depot on the city’s left bank, and four more in the surrounding region, after hours of air alerts culminating in a wave of strikes at about 2.30am.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said “a significant number of jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles were used in the attack” and that Russia was taking advantage of a shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors.

In a morning post on social media, Zelenskyy said: “Russia always plans its strikes specifically to cause as much destruction to people’s lives as possible, and it succeeds only when air defence capabilities are insufficient.”

Kyiv and the surrounding towns and villages have come under sustained attack in the past few days. Thirty-eight people were killed after a Russian drone struck an ammunition store in Myla, 15 miles west of Kyiv on Thursday, the hit causing hours of secondary explosions and damaging nearby homes.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia had attacked 28 locations, focusing on the cities of Kyiv, Odesa and their surroundings. Air defence shot down five Iskander ballistic missiles, two Banderol and five Kalibr cruise missiles and 187 out of 218 drones. Officials no longer reveal the total numbers of missiles fired.

Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, the chief executive of Ukrainian Railways, said six of the seven people killed in and around the depot were employees of the network. Another rail worker had been hospitalised, he added.

Kyiv has been chronically short of air defence systems since the supply of US made Patriot interceptors dried up. The Patriots are the only weapon that can effectively stop high-speed Russian ballistic missiles, made at the rate of about 60 a month.

Lockheed Martin, the US company that makes the most capable Pac-3 interceptors, produces about 600 a year, but US military supplies have been depleted during the US war with Iran. Ukraine is trying to secure a stockpile of about 300 for the winter, paid for by European allies, in a supply deal agreed with the US.