KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Multiple blasts rocked Kyiv and other areas of Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 14 others, in a sign that the pace of Russia attacks had picked up before New Year's.
Some Ukrainians defied the danger, however, to return to the country to reunite with families for the holidays.
Ukrainian officials claimed Russia was now deliberately targeting civilians, seeking to create a climate of fear to see out the year grimly and usher in a bloody 2023.
First lady Olena Zelenska expressed outrage that such massive missile attacks could come just before New Year's Eve celebrations.
“Ruining lives of others is a disgusting habit of our neighbors,” she said.
The blasts also came at an unusually quickened rhythm, one that alarmed officials just 36 hours after Russia launched a barrage of missiles on Thursday to damage energy infrastructure facilities.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba highlighted the harsh civilian toll of this latest offensive — that “this time, Russia's mass missile attack is deliberately targeting residential areas, not even the energy infrastructure.”
The deadly blast in the Ukrainian capital occurred among the multi-story residential buildings of the Solomianskyi district.
An AP photographer at the scene of the explosions saw the body of a dead woman as her husband and son stood nearby. Among the injured taken to hospital was an older…
