More Than 50 People Injured in Russian Missile Attack on Ukraine’s Capital

Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a residential house after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a residential house after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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More Than 50 People Injured in Russian Missile Attack on Ukraine’s Capital

Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a residential house after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Rescue workers extinguish a fire at a residential house after a Russian rocket attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukraine’s capital came under another ballistic missile attack early Wednesday, resulting in more than 50 injuries and several damaged buildings, officials said.
A series of loud explosions could be heard in Kyiv at 3 a.m. as the city's air defenses were activated for the second time this week. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 10 ballistic missiles toward the capital and all were intercepted by air defenses.
However, debris from intercepted missiles fell in the eastern Dniprovskyi district, injuring at least 53 people, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Kitschko said on Telegram. Twenty people including two children were hospitalized while 33 people received medical treatment on the spot.
An apartment building, a private house and several cars caught fire, while the windows of a children's hospital were shattered, Klitschko said. Falling rocket debris also damaged the water supply system in the district.
It wasn't immediately clear what type of missile was used in the attack, The Associated Press reported.
In other parts of Ukraine, 10 Russian drones were shot down, most of them in the Odesa region, the Ukrainian air force said.
On Monday, a Russian missile attack destroyed several homes on the outskirts of Kyiv and left more than 100 households temporarily without electricity.
Wednesday's attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington, where he made an impassioned plea to Congress to approve additional aid to fight Russia’s invasion.



Iran Sentences 3 to Death over Nuclear Scientist Killing

Fakhrizadeh was killed when his car was ambushed on a highway outside the capital in November 2020. (Reuters)
Fakhrizadeh was killed when his car was ambushed on a highway outside the capital in November 2020. (Reuters)
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Iran Sentences 3 to Death over Nuclear Scientist Killing

Fakhrizadeh was killed when his car was ambushed on a highway outside the capital in November 2020. (Reuters)
Fakhrizadeh was killed when his car was ambushed on a highway outside the capital in November 2020. (Reuters)

Iran has sentenced three people to death over the 2020 assassination of one of the country's top nuclear scientists, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the judiciary said on Tuesday.

"The judicial processes of these three people were carried out in the Revolutionary Court of Urmia, and they were sentenced to death in the initial stage, and the case is currently in the appeal stage," judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told a Tehran press conference.

Fakhrizadeh was killed when his car was ambushed on a highway outside the capital in November 2020, in an attack Iran blamed on its sworn enemy Israel.

"After some investigations, three people out of eight arrested in West Azarbaijan province, were accused of committing espionage for the occupying regime of Israel," Jahangir said.

He added that the three are also "accused of transporting equipment into Iran for the assassination of martyr Fakhrizadeh under the guise of smuggling alcoholic beverages".

In December 2022, then judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi said nine people had been charged with the capital offence of "corruption on earth" for their suspected collusion with Israel in the assassination.

Fakhrizadeh had been under US sanctions for his role in Iran's nuclear program when he was killed.

Iranian authorities said the attackers used a bomb and a remote-controlled machine gun.

Israel has never commented on the killing.

In 2018, the Israeli government accused Fakhrizadeh of leading Iran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb, a claim Iran has always vehemently denied.