Russian attacks near Kiev hit hotel and airport, leaving city without electricity

Missiles and air strikes from Russia caused damage to the north and south of the Ukrainian capital, Kievin the early hours of Saturday (12), according to local authorities.

In Chernihiv, about 100 kilometers north of the capital, the hotel Ukraine – a landmark in the city – was hit overnight.

“I’m here now. There is no more hotel,” Vyacheslav Chaus, head of administration for the Chernihiv region, said on Saturday.

“Russian forces continue to launch air and missile attacks on the city of Chernihiv. Civilians are dying, many people are being injured. The enemy bombs civilian infrastructure where there is no military,” he said.

Chernihiv has been surrounded by Russian forces for more than a week, and videos from the city show widespread damage from missiles and air strikes.

Chaus added that the city “has no electricity, almost no water, gas and heat” and while efforts to restore electricity on Friday (11) were successful, “the enemy has hit the power grid again.” .

A video from the city of Vasylkiv, south of Kiev, posted on a social network showed a burning fuel depot after an attack in the early hours of Saturday, and the military airfield appears to have been heavily damaged.

Nataliia Balasynovych, the city’s mayor, said in Facebook that “today, around 7 am, enemy forces bombed the city of Vasylkiv. Eight missiles hit the airport. As a result of the missile attacks, the airport was completely destroyed, the runway was destroyed.”

She added that “an ammunition depot also exploded. The ammunition is still detonating because one of the missiles hit the depot. A fuel and lubricant depot was also destroyed. As a result, our airport’s capacity was completely wiped out.”

The Russian Defense Ministry had previously said that a high-precision long-range weapon hit the military airfield in Vasylkiv.