One killed in new Kyiv strike: Rescuers

KYIV (AFP) - One person was killed and three injured when debris from a downed rocket hit a Kyiv apartment block on Thursday (March 17), as Russian forces press in on the capital, emergency services said.

Russian troops trying to encircle Kyiv have launched early morning strikes on the city for several successive days, putting traumatised residents further on edge.

Rescuers evacuated 30 people from the 16-storey building in eastern Darnitsky district after it was struck at 5.02am (11.02am Singapore time), the State Emergency Services of Ukraine said. The upper edge of the Soviet-style block was partially wrecked and an apartment on the top floor was destroyed, AFP journalists at the scene said.

"In Kyiv, due to the fall of the remains of a downed rocket, there was destruction and fire in a high-rise building," the emergency services said on Facebook. "According to preliminary information, 30 people were evacuated, three of whom were injured. One person has been killed."

Almost all the windows of the building were shattered and at least three neighbouring blocks were damaged, AFP journalists said. People were trying to clean their balconies and apartments, throwing out shards of glass and debris.

The incident happened just under two hours before the city emerged from a curfew imposed late on Tuesday amid what Kyiv's mayor called a "dangerous moment".

Four people were killed in strikes on residential buildings in Kyiv on Tuesday, with one tower block engulfed in flames, while at least two people were killed on Monday.

There are reports of losses mounting elsewhere in the country.

In the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, 53 people were killed by Russian forces on Wednesday alone, the regional governor said on Thursday.

“We are suffering heavy losses – 53 citizens were killed yesterday,” Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.

The information could not immediately be verified.

Russia denies targeting civilians.