On December 20, 2024, Ukrainian officials reported that on Friday, December 20, Russia launched missile attacks on Kyiv, resulting in at least one fatality and damage to a historic cathedral, six embassy buildings, and other structures in the capital area.
According to reports from Reuters, the Ukrainian Air Force stated that Ukrainian air defense forces successfully intercepted all five Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles launched by Russian forces targeting Kyiv.
Serhiy Popko, head of the military administration in Kyiv, stated that residents in the city center heard loud explosions, leading to fires in several buildings.
Photographs from the scene illustrated a destroyed roof of an office building in downtown Kyiv, windows shattered, and a severely damaged car on the street below. Firefighters were deployed to extinguish the fires following the attack.
The Kyiv city military administration confirmed that 12 individuals sustained injuries, with five of them being taken to hospitals for treatment.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the embassies of Albania, Argentina, Palestine, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Portugal housed in the same compound were damaged during the attack, with no diplomatic personnel casualties.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, condemned the attack on civilian targets in a social media post, describing it as “another brutal assault by Russia on civilians, demonstrating their lack of willingness for peace.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that Russian forces targeted a command center used by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), alleging its involvement in missile design, manufacture, and the American-made Patriot missile defense system.
“The targets have been successfully hit. All objectives have been achieved,” the Russian Defense Ministry claimed, citing the strike as a response to Ukraine’s alleged use of Western missiles to target Russia’s Rostov region.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the claims made by both Ukraine and Russia.
Mykola Tochytskyi, Minister of Cultural Affairs in Ukraine, shared on social media that the Russian attack also caused damage to the St. Nicholas Cathedral.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched 65 unmanned aerial vehicles into Ukrainian territory overnight, resulting in 40 of them being shot down, while 20 failed to reach their targets.
Officials in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson reported that Russian forces carried out attacks using various weapons in the early morning, leading to one fatality and injuring nine individuals. Energy facilities were damaged, causing power outages for up to 60,000 households.