Eight-year-old boy killed as Russian Kinzhal missiles strike western Ukraine
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Russian aeroballistic missiles screamed into Ukraine on the morning of Aug. 11, impacting in the west of the country and killing an eight-year-old-boy in his home, Ukrainian authorities said.
One of the Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, launched from Russian aircraft flying over Russian territory, struck a private house in the Kolomyia district of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, killing the child, reported the Office of the Prosecutor General. The agency also published photos from the scene of the tragedy.
Information about the other casualties is being verified. The blast wave and debris from the missile impact partially destroyed an outbuilding.
A pre-trial investigation into the violation of the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) has been initiated, Ukrainian prosecutor said.
The four Kinzhal missiles launched at Ukraine by Russia targeted a military airfield and young pilots who will soon be traveling to Europe for training, Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said later on Ukrainian national television.
"This is another attack by terrorists with Kh-47 missiles," the military officer said, using the formal name of the Kinzhal missile.
“The missiles were aimed at military airfields that have been under enemy fire for months. And the Starokostiantyniv airfield (Khmelnytskyi Oblast - ed.) is currently experiencing the consequences of the Russian occupiers' attacks,” Ihnat said.
“This time, our youth, our young pilots, who are about to leave for training, are in the crosshairs. Young pilots will be trained under a different program, and we know that the UK and other countries will train them for a new type of aircraft, Western equipment, primarily the F16. Thus, the enemy wanted to strike at our youth, depriving us of the prospect of further rearmament with the latest Western models of equipment.”
Ihnat added that although one missile was shot down in Kyiv Oblast, all of them had been headed for Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in western Ukraine.
The morning attack was carried out by four Kh-47 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from four MiG-31K aircraft from the airspace of Russia’s Tula and Lipetsk oblasts, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a later statement.
"The missiles entered Ukrainian airspace from the north, heading southwest to the Kolomyia airfield in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast," the statement said.
“We managed to destroy one Kh-47 missile within Kyiv Oblast. The rest hit near the airfield. Civilian infrastructure facilities were hit, and one of the missiles hit a residential area.”
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