CNN on scene after ‘kamikaze’ drones hit Ukrainian capital, killing several civilians The US airstrikes on Syria came as tensions between Washington and Moscow escalated.
At least 10 people were killed late Tuesday when two military drones struck a busy restaurant and residential area in central Kiev where an anti-government protest had been underway, according to eyewitnesses and local authorities.
The first drone targeted the restaurant that has become a gathering place for anti-government nationalists and pro-Russian separatists. The second flew over a residential area and struck a residential building, injuring two civilians. The injuries were not life-threatening.
Shortly after the drones struck, the US and EU condemned them and warned Russia against escalation and “any action that could destabilize” Ukraine, a diplomatic source told ABC News.
“The strikes were aimed at protecting Ukrainian security forces and protecting the sovereignty of their country,” the source said.
Ukraine’s president, Oleksandr Turchynov, offered condolences for the victims, while describing the drone attacks as “an act of war.”
“We’ve confirmed that there is no chemical weapons in the area where the drones were flying, so I think this is a question of Russian-Ukrainian relations,” he said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called the killings “another in a series of provocations” in Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has claimed about 10,000 lives, according to UN estimates.
Both Russian and US officials have said that the Ukrainian military has a “legitimate right” to defend itself.
The drones that targeted the restaurant came down after the strike on the other side of the city, according to various sources.
“Russian and US pilots were not involved in that strike,” said a US military official, who was not identified. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the drone strikes.
The drone strikes prompted several hours of violent protests, according to witnesses and official sources.
Video from the scene showed the scene of a burning building where the drones came down after they hit the residential area. Flames and black smoke filled the air, and a plume of thick black smoke rose into the air.
Some of the protesters threw firecrackers and smoke bombs. Some of the demonstrators set objects on fire, an eyewitness in the Ukraine’s Interior Ministry told reporters.
In a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday, the