KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched missiles against Kyiv for the third time in five days and also targeted other regions Monday as Moscow escalated its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities while the front line in remains largely stationary.
Nine people were injured in the morning strike on the Ukrainian capital, the Ukraine Rescue Service said. The Pecherskyi district was the hardest hit. Missile debris damaged homes in two districts and a local college gym in another district, Ukraine’s National Police said.
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched missiles against Kyiv for the third time in five days and also targeted other regions Monday as Moscow escalated its aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities while the front line in remains largely stationary.
A resident feeds a cat at the site of a Russian attack at the Pechersk district react in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A Ukrainian serviceman inspects the damage to a building at the Pecherskyi district, after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalized. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
First response officers inspect the damage after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike at Pechersk district of Kyiv, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A first responder officer inspects the damage in a building at the Pechersk district, after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A picture sits amid the debris after a Russian air attack in the Pechersk district in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A first responder officer inspects the damage in a building at the Pechersk district, after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
First response officers inspect the damage after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike at Pechersk district of Kyiv, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
First response officers inspect the damage after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike at Pechersk district of Kyiv, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Russia fired two ballistic missiles at Kyiv from occupied in the daylight attack, but both were intercepted above the city, said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration.
Later in the day, Ukrainian news outlets reported at least two explosions in the southern city of Odesa as Russian missile strikes also targeted several other regions. There was no immediate word on injuries or damage there.
On Thursday, Russia for the first time in six weeks, firing more than two dozen missiles before dawn. On Friday, Russia unleashed a massive , calling the assault retaliation for recent strikes on Russian soil.
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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko inspects the are of a Russian attack at the Pechersk district react in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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Days of intense Ukrainian shelling of the Russian border region of Belgorod led Russia to announce plans to .
The bombardment of Kyiv also came three days after a in Russia killed more than 130 people. Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to , even though an affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.
Putin could use the Moscow attack to shore up support for the war and as a pretext to escalate attacks on Ukraine, analysts said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his appeal for Western partners to provide more air defense systems to protect against the unrelenting attacks.
“We never tire of repeating that Ukraine needs more air defense,” he said. “This is security for our cities and saves human lives.”
Residents on the Pechersk district react as they stand near an area damaged by a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A resident feeds a cat at the site of a Russian attack at the Pechersk district react in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A Ukrainian serviceman inspects the damage to a building at the Pecherskyi district, after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalized. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
First response officers inspect the damage after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike at Pechersk district of Kyiv, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A first responder officer inspects the damage in a building at the Pechersk district, after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A picture sits amid the debris after a Russian air attack in the Pechersk district in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A first responder officer inspects the damage in a building at the Pechersk district, after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
First response officers inspect the damage after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike at Pechersk district of Kyiv, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
First response officers inspect the damage after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday March 25, 2024. Five people were injured in the strike at Pechersk district of Kyiv, two were hospitalised.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Law enforcement on the UCLA campus donned riot gear Wednesday evening as they ordered the dispersal of over a thousand people who had gathered in support of a pro-Palestinian student encampment, warning over loudspeakers that anyone who refused to leave could face arrest.
A small city sprang up inside the barricaded encampment, full of hundreds of people and tents on the campus quad. Some protesters prayed as the sun set over the campus, while others chanted “we’re not leaving” or passed out goggles and surgical masks. They wore helmets and headscarves, and discussed the best ways to handle pepper spray or tear gas as someone sang over a megaphone.
A few constructed homemade shields out of plywood in case they clashed with police forming skirmish lines elsewhere on the campus.
Meanwhile, a large crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on campus steps outside the tents, sitting as they listened and applauded various speakers and joined in pro-Palestinian chants. A small group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and Jewish people demonstrated nearby.
The law enforcement presence and continued warnings stood in contrast to the scene that unfolded the night before, when counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and tearing down barriers. Fighting continued for several hours before police stepped in, though no arrests were made. At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the tepid response by authorities drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.
Ray Wiliani, who lives nearby, said he came to UCLA on Wednesday evening to support the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
“We need to take a stand for it,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
Elsewhere, police in New Hampshire made arrests and took down tents at Dartmouth College and officers in Oregon came onto the campus at Portland State University as school officials sought to end the occupation of the library that started Monday.
The chaotic scenes at UCLA came just hours after New York police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday night, breaking up a demonstration that had paralyzed the school.
An Associated Press tally counted at least 38 times since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the U.S. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 schools.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that “a group of instigators” perpetrated the previous night's attack, but he did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.
“However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable,” he said. “It has shaken our campus to its core.”
Block promised a review of the night's events after California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles mayor denounced the delays.
“The community needs to feel the police are protecting them, not enabling others to harm them,” Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said in a news conference on the Los Angeles campus later Wednesday, where some Muslim students detailed the overnight events.
Speakers disputed the university’s account that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number of people taken to the hospital was higher. One student described needing to go to the hospital after being hit in the head by an object wielded by counter-protesters.
Several students who spoke during the news conference said they had to rely on each other, not the police, for support as they were attacked, and that many in the pro-Palestinian encampment remained peaceful and did not engage with counter-protesters. UCLA canceled classes Wednesday.
Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses nationwide in a student movement unlike any other this century. The ensuing police crackdowns echoed actions decades ago against a much larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.
In Madison, a scrum broke out early Wednesday after police with shields removed all but one tent and shoved protesters. Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said. Four were charged with battering law enforcement.
This is all playing out in an election year in the U.S., raising questions about whether young voters — who are critical for Democrats — will back President Joe Biden's reelection effort, given his staunch support of Israel.
In rare instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.
At Brown University in Rhode Island, administrators agreed to consider a vote to divest from Israel in October — apparently the first U.S. college to agree to such a demand.
The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.
Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israel’s critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.
Meanwhile, protest encampments elsewhere were cleared by the police, resulting in arrests, or closed up voluntarily at schools across the U.S., including The City College of New York, Fordham University in New York, Portland State in Oregon, Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona and Tulane University in New Orleans.
Offenhartz and Frederick reported from New York. Associated Press journalists around the country contributed to this report, including John Antczak, Christopher L. Keller, Lisa Baumann, Cedar Attanasio, Jonathan Mattise, Stefanie Dazio, Jae C. Hong, Colleen Long, Karen Matthews, Sarah Brumfield, Carolyn Thompson, Philip Marcelo, Corey Williams and Felicia Fonseca.
A person reinforces a barrier on the UCLA campus, after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups the previous night, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A musician performs as Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest at their encampment at Library Mall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Samantha Madar/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue their encampment at Library Mall on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Samantha Madar/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Protesters watch police activity while standing on a construction barrier on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Protesters are taken into custody as law enforcement dismantle an encampment by pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Dallas' Chess Plaza on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Richardson, Texas. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators embrace while charging devices at an encampment on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
A demonstrator watches an encampment from a construction scaffold on the UCLA campus, after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators lock arms on the UCLA campus Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
UCLA professor Nick Shapiro speaks at a news conference on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Demonstrators restore a protective barrier at an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Police detain a demonstrator protesting the war in Gaza as they work to remove a non-sanctioned encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Police push back on demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza as they work to remove a non-sanctioned encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Madison Police carry a demonstrator protesting the war in Gaza as they work to remove a non-sanctioned encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Protesters demonstrating against the war in Gaza circle a tent as law enforcement personnel prepare to remove an encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis. on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Protesters against the war in Gaza confront law enforcement personnel during demonstrations on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis. on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
A woman paints on a barrier during a protest set up in a plaza at the University of Texas at Dallas, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Richardson, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Demonstrators restore a protective barrier at an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Demonstrators hold signs on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Demonstrators restore a protective barrier at an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Police stage on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An officer stands outside a Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick speaks outside a Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Students walk by one of the spray-painted messages left by those protesting the Israel-Hamas war on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Sixteen people, including five students, were arrested earlier this week when they occupied the Student Union Building, causing damage inside. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
Posters surround an encampment established by University of New Mexico students and supporters who are protesting the Israel-Hamas war, on the main campus in Albuquerque, N,M., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
Demonstrators restore a protective barrier at an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A person stands at a Gaza Solidarity Encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Demonstrators restore a protective barrier at an encampment on the UCLA campus, the morning after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Demonstrators against the war in Gaza clash with law enforcement personnel during demonstrations on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis. on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Law enforcement personnel clash with demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza as they work to remove a non-sanctioned encampment on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis. on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Protesters against the war in Gaza confront law enforcement personnel during demonstrations on the campus of UW-Madison in Madison, Wis. on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
Demonstrators wave flags on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Demonstrators gather on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Demonstrators lock arms on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
