Ukraine’s two largest cities under Russian attack, officials say 13 injured

Jan 24 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s two largest cities came under Russian attacks early on Saturday, injuring two people in the capital Kyiv and 11 in Kharkiv in the northeast, officials said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the two injured in the capital were in serious condition and being treated in hospital. He said there had been strikes in two districts on either side of the Dnipro River bisecting the capital.

“Kyiv is under a massive enemy attack,” Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine’s air force said both drones and missiles had been deployed in the assault on the capital.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported drone strikes in at least three districts, sparking fires in at least two locations.

Kyiv has endured two mass overnight attacks since the New Year, knocking out power and heating to hundreds of residential buildings. Emergency workers were still engaged in restoring services to residents, with overnight temperatures dipping to -13 Celsius (9 Fahrenheit).

In Kharkiv, a frequent Russian target 30 km (18 miles) from the border, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Russian drones had attacked several districts, injuring 11 people.

Writing on Telegram, he said drones had struck a dormitory for displaced people, a hospital and a maternity hospital.

The latest attacks occurred after negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States completed the first of two days of talks in the United Arab Emirates devoted to working towards a resolution of the nearly four-year-old war.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Chris Reese)