KYIV/OSLO (VG) About three months after Russian forces withdrew from Kyiv, explosions were heard in several parts of the center of the capital on Sunday morning.
Early in the day, the people of Kyiv woke up to a series of explosions. A short time later, smoke rose to the sky in the center.
– I was lying asleep with everything exploding, says a young man, bleeding from his ear.
VG’s Kyiv correspondent Kyrre Lien heard three explosions in the morning, with smoke later rising from a residential area in the center of the capital.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed that there had been rocket attacks in the Shevchenkivsky district and that damage was inevitable. Ambulances and rescue workers are on site.
On Telegram, Klitschko wrote that there are people in the ruins.
– We can hear the sounds of children lying under the rubble, Mayor Vitali Klitschko tells VG.
Outside the building, which smelled of burning plastic and a layer of smoke throughout the neighborhood. Firefighters deploy new water cannons, and rescue workers search the rubble.
We have no choice but to defend our country, our children and our future, says Klitschko.
Many Ukrainians who had fled Kyiv at the outbreak of war returned to the capital after the Russians withdrew in late March.
The city is full of people out there in cafes and bars and playing chess in the parks, but for many, it’s yet another reminder that the war is still raging.
“Coffee trailblazer. Certified pop culture lover. Infuriatingly humble gamer.”
