On Wednesday, blasts echoed throughout Kyiv after Russian officials claimed to have launched their first missile attack against the Ukrainian capital in August. This forced elderly women and children to seek shelter underground at a metro station.

The Ukrainians have waited for months for a large missile attack, fearing that it would deal a blow to their energy system which is already weakened and could cause long blackouts when winter arrives.

The air force reported that the air defences in the country intercepted 37 drones, two cruise missiles and two ballistic missiles. Kyiv was not hit by any major incidents or casualties.

Andriy Yeermak, head of the President’s Office, posted on Telegram that “Putin has launched a missile strike on Kyiv at this very moment.”

The head of the Kyiv Region’s Administration said that falling debris caused a fire in a warehouse and injured a man aged 48.

Kyiv has been subjected to Russian drone attacks nearly every night for the past few weeks. Vitali Klitschko, the city mayor, said that a drone flew over central Kyiv early in the morning.

“Explosions in the city. The air defence forces are on the job. “Stay in shelters!” wrote the Kyiv City Administration on Telegram.

Around 100 people took refuge in the central metro station Universitet. This included small children sleeping on mats, and elderly women sitting down on folding chairs.

Some people complained about a lack sleep due to the drone attacks that trigger the alerts for air raids which are heard throughout the city, and vibrate on mobile phones.

“The mornings have been completely ruined.” The bloody Russians have ruined every morning since I began college in September. “I cannot sleep, I can’t think, and I drink energy beverages all the time,” said Mykyta a teenager in the metro, hugging his pet dog.

MASSIVE ATTACK

In early 2018, Russia struck Ukrainian power plants, causing blackouts. Although the situation has improved since then, officials are concerned that the Kremlin could be planning to attack the grid soon.

Andrii Kovalenko is a senior official in the National Security and Defence Council. He warned that Russia had amassed a large number cruise missiles and was prepared to launch another “massive attack”.

Ukrenergo, the operator of Ukraine’s power grid, said that it will limit electricity supplies to businesses after Wednesday’s strike due to “significantly lower” power imports and reduced generation.

Last time, businesses and households were subjected to restrictions on electricity supply after an attack by Russian missiles and drones in late August.

Uncertainty remained as to whether the new restrictions had any connection with the recent attack. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest power distributor and generator, said that the restrictions would be applied to Kyiv and its surrounding area, as well as the regions of Odesa and Dnipro, and Donetsk.

Russia has not launched missiles at Kyiv since August 26, when, according to officials, it launched an attack on the entire country using more than 200 missiles and drones. Ukraine reported that seven people were killed in the attack.