The mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, has raised the number of deceased to 16 and the number of injured to 41 due to the new bombings launched this Thursday by the Russian Armed Forces against the Ukrainian capital, which in recent weeks has been suffering one of the most intense offensives since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022.
"The capital is recovering from an intense wave of attacks," Klitschko has pointed out, who in an initial report had informed of 15 dead and 39 injured from the Russian attacks, concentrated mainly in the districts of Sviatoshinski, Solomianski, and Darnitski.
The fall of drone fragments has caused a fire in an office building in the Holosivski district, an incident that has left at least one dead and two injured. The mayor warned hours later that the number of victims could increase, as emergency teams continue to search the interior of the building for possible affected individuals.
August 21 has been declared a day of mourning in Kiev in memory of the victims. "Flags will fly at half-mast on all municipal buildings in the city," the mayor announced, who has also ordered the cancellation of any recreational or entertainment events planned for this Friday as a gesture of respect.
According to Klitschko, the attacks have caused several fires, now extinguished, and have caused damage to apartment blocks, as well as to a children's medical center and a school in the Solomianski district. The air alert remains active in the capital.
For his part, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has stated that this series of Russian attacks was planned "for a long time" and that a wide combination of different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones was used "with the aim of causing the greatest possible damage to civilian infrastructure."
"There is destruction in Kiev and the region, as well as in the regions of Odesa and Chernihiv," he lamented in a message on social media, where he shared images of the destruction caused by the bombings. "Unfortunately, while Moscow invests in ballistic missiles and escalation, these attacks do not always receive the response they should from the world," he reproached.
This type of reproach has become common in Zelensky, who in recent months has hardened his discourse on what he considers insufficient support from his allies to provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons and systems to face the increase in Russian attacks.
"As long as Ukraine does not have sufficient anti-ballistic defense, Russia will not seriously consider peace. We are doing everything possible to ensure that we have that protection (...) but the Patriot interceptors still cannot be replaced, and we need them every day. Every additional missile saves lives of our people," the leader has insisted.
New attack in Yitomir
In parallel, Ukrainian authorities have confirmed the death of three people, all of them police officers, and 53 injured as a result of the Russian bombing the previous day against a police station in the province of Yitomir.
Emergency services continue to operate in the area after extinguishing the fire caused by the impact of the drones. "It is an irreparable loss for the National Police," the institution has stated, which has criticized Moscow for directing its attacks against personnel responsible for ensuring the safety of the civilian population.