Russian airstrikes hit Kyiv killing one in ‘symbolic’ attack as G7 summit begins

Russian missiles have struck a residential building in Kyiv in the first such attack on the Ukraine capital in the three weeks,

One person was killed and five more injured as result of the early morning attack on Sunday, dubbed ‘symbolic’ by the city mayor as it coincided with the opening of the G7 summit.

Emergency services were seen battling flames in a badly damaged nine-storey residential building, as well as rescuing civilians from the rubble.

“They (rescuers) have pulled out a seven-year-old girl,” Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said. “She is alive. Now they’re trying to rescue her mother.

“There are people under the rubble,” he added on the Telegram messaging app. He also mentioned that several people had been hospitalised.

Mr Klitschko told media that he believed “it is maybe a symbolic attack” ahead of the G7 summit opening on Sunday and a gathering of NATO in Madrid next week.

The compound of a kindergarten in the centre of the city was also hit which smashed the building’s windows, and left a large crater in a playground nearby.

Ukraine Member of Parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app that “according to prelim data 14 missiles were launched against Kyiv region and Kyiv.”

Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said the missiles were Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles fired from planes over the Caspian Sea.

Ukraine’s foreign ministers Dmytro Kuleba called on the G7 countries to impose further sanctions on Moscow and to provide more heavy weapons.

President Joe Biden said the US and other G7 nations intend to announce a ban on imports of gold from Russia. They hope that measure will further isolate Russia economically over its invasion of Ukraine.

Senior Biden administration officials said gold is Moscow’s second largest export after energy, and that banning imports would make it more difficult for Russia to participate in global markets.

Biden’s Twitter feed said Russia “rakes in tens of billions of dollars” from the sale of its gold, its second largest export after energy.

Ukraine‘s president Volodymyr Zelensky will address the summit by video-link on Monday.

In his nightly video address on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said repeated Russian missile strikes show the need for more advanced defensive equipment.

He said: “I will take part in the G7 summit on Monday. The Nato summit will take place next week.

“Forty-five missiles in half a day and just on the eve of such meetings. All clear. Another confirmation of our position.

“This confirms that sanctions packages against Russia are not enough, that Ukraine needs more armed assistance, and that air defence systems - the modern systems that our partners have - should be not in training areas or storage facilities, but in Ukraine, where they are now needed.”