Two Hospitalized, Buildings Damaged in Kyiv by Russian Drone Strike Overnight

Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Two Hospitalized, Buildings Damaged in Kyiv by Russian Drone Strike Overnight

Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 13, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Russian forces targeted Kyiv with a barrage of self-exploding Iranian-made Shahed drones early Thursday morning, according to the Kyiv City Administration.
Explosions were heard in different parts of the city, and debris from intercepted drones fell on four districts of the Ukrainian capital, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Buildings were damaged, and two people hospitalized with shrapnel wounds, The Associated Press said.
Earlier, the municipal authority wrote on Telegram that debris fell on five districts.
Ukraine’s Air Forces reported that Russia fired a total of 20 drones, mostly at the Kyiv region, and that all 20 were shot down. The Ukrainian military also intercepted two cruise missiles. The statement also reported that one ballistic missile was not intercepted, although it did not explain what damage the missile caused.
Rescuers extinguished a fire in a 16-story building, as well as in a non-residential building, according to the Interior Ministry. Debris also “damaged the facade” of a 25-story apartment building, the ministry wrote.
Volodymyr Motus, a 22-year-old resident of the 25-story building, carefully picked his way across the floor of a destroyed apartment, his footsteps accompanied by the sound of shattered glass. The mangled furniture was coated in a thick layer of dust.
“I was in my apartment and suddenly I heard a boom, that’s all. Then the alarm went off and I went down to the shelter.”
He said that some people were injured, but they were all alive.



Iran Condemns the Killing of Embassy Staffer in Damascus

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)
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Iran Condemns the Killing of Embassy Staffer in Damascus

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei (Archive photo – MEHR)

Iran denounced on Sunday the killing of one of its embassy staffers in Damascus describing the act as a “terrorist attack”.
The spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, condemned the killing of Seyed Davood Bitaraf, a local staff member at the Iranian Embassy in Damascus.
“Davood Bitaraf was martyred last Sunday in a terrorist attack by individuals who opened gunfire at his vehicle in Damascus”, Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Baqaei.
He added that Bitaraf’s body was found and identified and then transported back to Iran in the past few days.
The spokesman emphasized that the Syrian transitional government must take responsibility for identifying the perpetrators of this crime, bringing them to justice, and ensuring they are held accountable.
He also confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the matter through appropriate diplomatic and international channels.
In earlier statements, Baqaei had said that the reopening of the Iranian embassy in Damascus is contingent upon ensuring the security of the embassy and its diplomatic personnel.
Following the overthrow of Bashar Assad's regime by Syrian armed factions on the 8th of December, the Iranian embassy, which had been stormed, was closed. Since 2011, Iran has supported Bashar Assad's government in its fight against armed groups.