Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine including in Kyiv, officials say | U.S. & World [Video]

By Vladyslav Smilianets and Gleb Garanich

KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces unleashed a combined drone and missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early on Saturday, killing three people, while two other attacks in the country’s south killed three more, officials said.

In Kyiv, explosions boomed across the pre-dawn sky as air defences activated against the attack, which also wounded three others, according to city military administration chief Timur Tkachenko.

A shopping mall, business centre, metro station and water pipe were damaged in the assault, he said.

“Russian forces initially launched drones and then a ballistic-missile strike,” parliamentary ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote on social media. “These acts merely underscore the enemy’s ruthlessness and barbarity.”

Rescue workers plodded through a flooded street as they sifted through debris. The charred remains of a van were visible in front of the station, whose facade was marked by twisted metal and blown-out windows.

As daylight broke, they could be seen examining …