5 wounded in shelling of Kyiv apartment building

KYIV, Ukraine — A shell has exploded outside an apartment building in Kyiv, wounding five people, the mayor says today, the latest bombardment as Russian forces try to encircle the Ukrainian capital.

The ten-story building in northwestern Sviatoshyn district was badly damaged, with all the windows blown out and scorch marks from a fire that broke out, AFP journalists at the scene say.

Firefighters lead an elderly woman and a disoriented man with facial injuries to an ambulance. Two burned-out cars lay in the debris-covered courtyard, which also houses a playground.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko says on Telegram that “the enemy’s airstrikes” had wounded five people, two of whom were taken to the hospital.

“It was lucky” that there were not more casualties, Sviatlana Vodolaga, a spokeswoman for the state emergency service tells AFP, adding that six people were rescued from the building.

A kindergarten was also damaged but was empty at the time.

The boom of shelling and rocket fire could be heard in the distance from the scene, which is only a few kilometers from the frontline commuter town of Irpin.