Large explosion rocks Ukrainian capital

KYIV, Ukraine

A large explosion was heard in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on Wednesday evening, shortly after warning sirens rang out.

A major heating pipeline in the capital was damaged in a missile strike near Kyiv’s central railway station, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister.

He said the Russian cruise missile was “intended for a major control center” but was intercepted by Ukraine’s “heroic” air defense.

“The wreckage of the downed missile damaged the heating pipeline. A part of the city might be deprived of heating tonight, but we will have it repaired by the morning,” he said.

The casualties and destruction would have been “horrendous” if the missile “had hit its target in the center of Kyiv,” Gerashchenko added.

No information on damage or casualties is available yet.