Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s capital as the head of the United Nations visited on Thursday, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that five Russian missiles were fired into Kyiv immediately after his meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. One of the missiles struck the lower floors of a residential high-rise, and another building in the capital city was hit as well. A U.N. spokesman called the airstrike “shocking,” and the Ukrainian president said it was an attempt by the Kremlin to “humiliate the U.N.”
“Today, immediately after the end of our talks in Kyiv, Russian missiles flew into the city — five missiles. And this says a lot about Russia’s true attitude to global institutions, about the efforts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the U.N. and everything that the organization represents,” Zelensky said. “It requires a strong response.”
The U.N. chief and his team were still in Kyiv when the attack occurred. The delegation did not disclose how close Guterres was to the impact sites but said the entire team was safe.
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“It is a war zone, but it is shocking that it happened close to us,” Saviano Abreu, a spokesman for the U.N.’s humanitarian office, told Agence France-Presse.
Other Ukrainian officials lashed out at the missile attack and its timing.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called it a “heinous act of barbarism” that demonstrated Russia’s “attitude towards Ukraine, Europe, and the world.” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the strike was “an attack on the security of the Secretary General and on world security!”
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The missile attacks left at least 10 people injured, according to reports.
Guterres on Tuesday held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who defended his invasion of Ukraine but said he still hopes for a “diplomatic outcome.”
