At least one person was killed after Russia launched an overnight barrage of drones and missiles targeting Kyiv and the northern Chernihiv region. Zelenskyy said the strikes on the capital targeted a civilian hospital and called on allies to ramp up military support.
Russia carried out combined missile and drone aerial attacks targeting multiple Ukrainian cities overnight on Monday, killing one person and injuring several more.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at least 165 drones were launched across the border in the early hours of Monday, with some 100 of them being Iranian-made Shahed strike drones.
Ukraine’s Air Defence say that an undisclosed number of projectiles including ballistic missiles were also fired in the attacks targeting Kyiv and the northern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv.
Zelenskyy says the strikes on the capital targeted a civilian hospital, prompting the evacuations of admitted patients.
“Last night, the Russian army 'defeated' yet another hospital – in Kyiv, with a functioning inpatient unit. Patients had to be evacuated. There are casualties. Sadly, one person has been killed,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X.
Local officials say fragments of a drone or a missile struck a four-storey building, where an inpatient department was operating on the second floor, causing a fire and resulting in structural damage to the building’s facade and interior premises.
Emergency response units say that the body of a deceased civilian who was receiving medical care was discovered. Three others were found injured in the facility, having sustained wounds of varying severity.
Meanwhile, the city of Chernihiv and its surrounding areas reported strikes from a serious barrage consisting of drones, unmanned aerial vehicles and ballistic missiles.
Chernihiv city council reported that 15 private residential houses sustained damage, with many windows and doors blown out and damage to gates and fencing.
They also reported that a private enterprise on the outskirts of Chernihiv was struck by the barrage targeting the northern region, damaging production facilities and vehicles parked on the premises.
The overnight wave of attacks also targeted energy infrastructure, disrupting the city's and broader region's energy supply and causing partial power outages.
Zelenskyy called on Ukraine’s allies to increase military support for his embattled country to bolster its aerial defences against such threats.
“It is crucial that our partners never forget: air defence is needed every day, funding for the production of interceptor drones is needed every day, equipment for the energy sector is needed every day,” wrote Zelenskyy.
The Ukrainian leader is set to participate in a "Coalition of the Willing" meeting in France on Tuesday, the group's first meeting of the year, where Kyiv’s defence needs are expected to be among the top agenda items.