Ukraine Officials: Russia Tried to Hit Kyiv With Missile

Russian forces targeted Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, as part of an overnight bombardment felt across the country, local officials said Saturday, while drones that Russian officials blamed on the Ukrainian military targeted areas around Moscow and the Russian region of Smolensk. A ballistic missile was shot down as it approached the Ukrainian capital, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. He said no one was injured, per the AP.

The Ukrainian air force later confirmed an Iskander-M ballistic missile was used in the attack, the first attempted missile strike on Kyiv in almost two months. The missile was destroyed by the country's Patriot air defense system. Ukraine's air defense systems actively repelled attacks in the Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, and Kirovohrad regions. The country's air force said Russian troops launched 31 Shahed-136/131 drones, of which 19 were shot down. The strike in the Odesa region damaged the city's port infrastructure and a small community of cottages, injuring three people, including a 96-year-old woman, said Oleh Kiper, the regional governor.

Russia's military spokesperson, Yuri Ihnat, also said they launched an X-31 aircraft missile, an Onyx anti-ship missile, and an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile targeting Ukraine overnight, but he didn't give further details. Russia's Defense Ministry also said it shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Smolensk and Moscow regions. Vasily Anokhin, Smolensk's governor, said no one was hurt in the attack. Meanwhile, trains carrying cargo in Russia's Ryazan region were derailed Saturday morning due to "unauthorized interference," Moscow rail operator MZHD said.

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Russian law enforcement said that 15 train carriages had been derailed southeast of the capital, while MZHD reported the number as 19. Several Russian media outlets also reported that an explosion was heard in the vicinity on Saturday morning, although the AP couldn't independently verify this. Russian officials have previously blamed pro-Ukrainian saboteurs for several attacks on the country's railway system since Moscow invaded the country in February 2022, although no group has claimed responsibility for the damage. Kyiv hasn't commented on Saturday's attacks.

(More Kyiv stories.)