Russian missiles target Kyiv on first day of school year

Russia has fired a barrage of missiles at Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, hours before thousands of children returned to school for the first day of the academic year.

The mayor, Vitali Klitschko, says a water treatment plant and the entrance of a metro station used as a shelter were hit. Two schools and a university were also damaged.

According to Ukraine’s military, 22 cruise and air ballistic missiles were destroyed by the air force.

Local authorities say three people were injured by debris from destroyed missiles.

For schoolchildren across the capital, Monday's bombardment coincided with the first day of the school year, a day of celebration in Ukraine.

Teachers and parents tried to keep a sense of normality, with music playing while smiling students were welcomed by a sea of flowers.

One parent, who hid with her daughter at home during the missile attack before taking her to school, said they were showing once more "that this nation is invincible".

“Children are smiling, but you can see the strain on the faces of their teachers [who] carry this burden”, she told the BBC.

“I’m so thankful to them for all they did to make it a real holiday for the kids."

For 33-year-old Yevheniia, who was taking her six-year-old daughter to school for the first time, the day was marred by fear.

“Her hands were shaking,” Yevheniia told the Reuters news agency.

“Our apartment started to stink of smoke, but we still need to go to school, right? We are Ukrainians,” she said she told her daughter that morning.

Alina, a student at the damaged university, told Ukrainian TV she “started screaming” when the air raid alert sounded, with everyone running into their dormitory's bomb shelter.

Air raid sirens rang out for nearly two hours during the attack, before the skies were deemed clear by the military.

“We were very scared,” Alina said, adding they saw a fire following the sound of explosions.

Following the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the first day of school "one of the most important days of the year" for children, and their families and teachers.

"All our schools, all higher education institutions that are working today are proof of the resilience of our people and the strength of Ukraine,” he said on his Telegram channel.

All of Ukraine was placed on alert for several hours, and neighbouring Nato state Poland said it had deployed its own as well as allied aircraft to secure its airspace during the Russian strikes.

Russia's forces last month advanced on 477 sq km (184 sq miles) of Ukrainian territory - the biggest monthly increase by Moscow since October 2022 - according to data from the Institute for the Study of War analysed by AFP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces have not advanced with “such a pace” in the Donbas “for a long time" and are taking several sq km of territory per day.

Meanwhile, in Russia’s Kursk region - where Ukraine launched a surprise incursion on 6 August - progress has slowed with Kyiv most recently claiming to control 1,294 sq km (500 sq miles) of territory, including 100 settlements.

Nearly 600 Russian soldiers have also been captured, it added.

But President Putin - who was speaking to children starting their own new school year - said this will not deter his forces' advance into eastern Ukraine, claiming they were moving forward at the fastest rate in a "long time".

"Their calculation was to stop our offensive actions in key parts of the Donbas. The result is known... they did not achieve stopping our advance,” he said.

Some critics in Ukraine have suggested that the incursion in Kursk has diverted seasoned troops from the Donbas frontline at a critical moment.

However, President Zelensky defended the offensive on Monday, saying it was proceeding "according to the plan". He said the attack could ease the pressure on the eastern front.