Russian missiles strike Kyiv districts, killing two, officials say

July 16 (Reuters) – Russian ballistic missiles struck at least two districts in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Thursday, triggering fires and killing two people, officials said.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on Telegram, said two people had died and six others, including a 16-year-old teenager, had been injured in the attacks.

Reuters witnesses heard a series of explosions in the city.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said Russia was attacking Kyiv with ballistic missiles.

It was the sixth such attack on the Ukrainian capital in July alone, as Russia escalates its air strikes against Ukraine.

Ukraine’s emergency services said a fire broke out in two storage buildings and nearby parked trucks in one of the districts, where the two people had died.

In the city’s Svyatoshynskyi district west of the city centre, a fire broke out in a one-storey warehouse.

Five people were injured in the two incidents, the emergency services said.

The Black Sea port city of Odesa also came under attack early on Thursday, the head of the city’s military administration Serhiy Lysak said, adding that an educational facility had been damaged.