“In a combat air defense shot down all five ballistic missiles that Russian criminals had directed at Kyiv. Unfortunately, fragments of the downed missiles caused damage and destruction in five districts of the capital. There are dead and wounded,” the air force said.

The Russian leader had mockingly challenged Ukraine’s Western allies to a missile “duel,” testing their air defenses, during his annual year-end news conference.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has launched several ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, killing at least one person and injuring nine others