Ukraine battles Russian missiles as school year opens; 11 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school

Ukraine battles Russian missiles as school year opens; 11 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school
by AFP Staff Writers
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) Sept 2, 2024

Ukraine downed 22 missiles early Monday that Russia fired toward Kyiv and two other region during an attack that wounded three people, authorities said.

The missiles were among the 30 launched at Ukraine a few hours before Ukrainian children began a third school year under the Russian invasion.

"Overnight, Russia fired a total of 35 missiles, including ballistic ones, and 23 drones at Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Ukraine shot down nine ballistic missiles, 13 cruise missiles and 20 attack drones, the airforce said.

Loud explosions woke the capital up around 5:30 am (0230 GMT), according AFP journalists in Kyiv.

Debris from destroyed missiles fell in four districts and wounded three people, the head of the Kyiv military administration Sergiy Popko said.

Some of the wreckage damaged a mosque in Kyiv, said Zelensky, who accused Russia of "attempting to destroy all of our communities and even sacred places of worship."

As the war stretches into its third year, Ukrainians have seen daily aerial attacks on their country.

"Today's morning -- the morning the kids go back to school -- was no exception," Presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said.

"Russia continues to deliberately attack civilians, critical infrastructure," he added.

A missile strike on the northeastern city of Sumy on Sunday evening damaged a social welfare centre and an orphanage, injuring 18 people including six children, the mayor Oleksandr Lysenko said on Telegram.

And shelling killed a woman in Kupyansk, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.

Reacting to the latest missile attack, presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak vowed a response to Russia's attacks.

"There will be an answer to everything. The enemy will feel it," Yermak posted on Telegram.

Kyiv has stepped up its strikes inside Russian territory, particularly since launching a ground offensive into the nearby Kursk region earlier this month.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region which borders Ukraine, said an overnight aerial attack by Ukrainian forces wounded one person and damaged a shop and an infrastructure facility in the eponymous capital Belgorod.

Gaza officials say 11 killed in Israeli strike on school
Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Sept 1, 2024 - Gaza health officials said an Israeli air strike targeting a group of policemen in a school sheltering displaced Palestinians killed at least 11 people on Sunday, while the military said it had struck a Hamas command centre.

"Eleven people, including a woman and girl, were killed when an Israeli air strike struck the Safad school in Gaza City sheltering displaced people," civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding several people were also wounded.

The school had a Hamas police outpost, another Gaza health official said on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli military said its air force had struck a Hamas command centre in the Safad school.

"The IAF struck Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded inside the area that previously served as the Safad school in Gaza City," the military said in a statement.

The war between Israel and Hamas erupted after Palestinian militants attacked Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Since then, the Israeli military has been relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip from the air, sea and ground, which has so far killed at least 40,738 people, according to the territory's health ministry.

According to the UN, the majority of the dead are women and children.