At least 10 people were injured when the Ukrainian military intercepted a Russian missile attack on the capital city of Kyiv on Monday, with the shrapnel falling into a three-story building in the city center on Monday, March 25, causing schoolchildren to run for cover.
Knewz.com has learned that the building – which hosted a gym used by an art academy and an exhibition hall – was destroyed.
Not afraid to use curse words, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that there are “no atrocities” the Russian army would not commit, “including an attempt of a ballistic strike at the heart of a multimillion city.”
“This is a reminder that Ukraine urgently requires more air defense, particularly Patriot systems and missiles capable of repelling any Russian attack,” he said.
Reuters reported that the missile was fired from Crimea, which is over 310 miles away, highlighting the significant number of targets within Russian military range.
Even though the missile was destroyed before reaching its target, significant damage was caused because Ukraine’s warning system was late in detecting the weapon, only alerting authorities about one minute before it would have been a direct hit.
The attack comes as Ukraine appears to have temporarily sabotaged Russia’s ability to use the Kerch Strait Bridge, which is the longest bridge in Europe and is a crucial supply line between Crimea and the rest of Russia.
Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Ukraine security service, told the Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine that 12 recent strikes on the bridge resulted in significant damage, and Russia can no longer use the bridge to transport military supplies.
Prior to the Ukrainian attacks, Russia was able to transport around 46 trains carrying weapons and artillery across the freight infrastructure on the bridge. Maliuk said only 4-5 trains could make the crossing per day, and they only carry people or consumer goods.
“The pillars and the so-called bulls on which they stand are now damaged there. When they restore them, perhaps [the Russian military] will start dragging their ammunition again, then, in fact, we will once again say ‘hello’ to [the Russians],” he said.
Maliuk hinted at the possibility of completely destroying the bridge but added, “All in good time. Let’s not rush into things.”
The Kerch Strait Bridge is so vital to Russia’s war effort – and such an obvious Ukrainian target – that Moscow is working to build an alternative 450-mile railway system to connect Crimea with the Russian-occupied regions of Eastern Ukraine.
During an event marking the 10th anniversary of the illegal annexation of Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “I have just been informed that the railway from [Russian] Rostov-on-Don to Donetsk, Mariupol and Berdyansk has been rebuilt. We will continue this work, and soon trains will ride all the way to Crimea, and this will be another alternative route, in addition to the Crimean bridge.”
Russia is also reeling from a terrorist attack near Moscow that killed 139 people and rattled the nation. That attack was claimed by ISIS-K, an offshoot of the feared ISIS group that experts believe is now more powerful than the original group.
