At least 13 injured, widespread damage in Russian missile strikes on Kyiv

March 21 (UPI) -- A Russian missile assault on the Ukrainian capital overnight injured at least 13 people, including a child, in the largest attack on Kyiv in weeks, authorities said.

At least two people were taken to the hospital after being hit by debris from missiles destroyed by air defense batteries, said Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko.

City military administration head Serhiy Popko said the child, an 11-year-old girl, was hurt in the Shevchenkivskyi district of the city, though it was unclear if she was among those hospitalized.

The Air Force confirmed its defense systems downed 31 cruise and ballistic missiles but burning debris from the downed rockets set ablaze several apartment buildings, a kindergarten, a power transformer station and cars in Podilsky, and Sviatoshyn districts, according to Popko.

"As a result of successful combat operations, all enemy missiles were shot down over Kyiv and on the approaches to the capital," he wrote in a social media post.

The Air Force said the missiles were launched from the Volgodonsk area in Russia's Rostov Oblast and the Engels district of Saratov Oblast.

Condemning the attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky, called for international partners to provide more military assistance, particularly air defense systems such as the U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile shield, saying "such terror" could be ended if the international community put its mind to it.

"Such terror continues every day and night. It is possible to put an end to it through global unity --- if it helps us with air defense systems," he wrote in a post on X.

"Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing Patriot and other leading world systems. This protection is required in Ukraine now. From Kyiv to Kharkiv, Sumy to Kherson, and Odesa to the Donetsk region.

"This is entirely possible if our partners demonstrate sufficient political will. We must prove that terror is always the loser. We must prove to Russia that it will be forced to accept normal, free life in Ukraine. We need the support of our partners," said Zelensky.