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(LONDON) – Russian missiles hit the Ukrainian capital Kiev early Monday, injuring at least two people, the city authorities said.

Moscow fired cruise missiles and ballistic missiles at the city starting at around 3 a.m., officials said in a message posted on the messaging app Telegram.

According to Serhiy Popko, head of the city administration, at least two people were injured, one of whom had to be hospitalized.

According to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security of Ukraine, about 34 cruise and ballistic missiles and about 23 Shahed drones were fired.

The government group said that air defenses in Ukraine had destroyed at least nine ballistic and 13 cruise missiles. Twenty of the drones were destroyed and three had failed to reach their targets, it added.

A Russian missile hit one of the city's Islamic cultural centers, which is located in a mosque, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, adding: “Russia has no respect for spiritual or human values ​​and no respect for any religion or belief.”

“The world must realize that Russia's war is not only against Ukraine, but also against humanity, dignity and human life,” Zelensky said on social media. “Such barbaric acts have no place in our modern world. They must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and responded to with decisive action by the international community.”

The early morning attack came a week after Russia launched a nationwide assault on Ukraine, which Zelensky said was the largest airstrike of its kind since the war began in 2022.

Russia fired at least 127 missiles and 109 drones in an attack lasting more than eight hours last Monday.

Monday's strikes took place on the first day of the new school year for children across Ukraine, “despite the war and all the challenges,” Zelensky said.

“Ukraine is doing everything possible to provide maximum opportunities for children,” he said on social media. “All of our schools and colleges that are operating today are a testament to the resilience of our people and the strength of Ukraine.”

Monday's attack on Kyiv came a day after Russia bombed Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with ballistic missiles and glide bombs, injuring dozens of people.

According to Ukrainian rescue workers, at least 47 people were injured in the attacks in Kharkiv, including seven children. Three people were rescued after being buried under rubble, authorities said.

The Russian attacks on Kharkiv followed a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory that damaged an oil refinery near Moscow over the weekend.

Zelensky said the purpose of the domestic drone strikes was to bring the war to Russia.

“The terrorist state must feel what war is. We are working to bring as many Russian military facilities, logistics centers and critical components of their war economy as possible within reach of our weapons,” Zelensky said in a speech on Sunday evening. “With our drones and missiles we can fulfill some of the missions. But true peace – a real end to this war – is a complex task. To force Russia to peace, to move it away from the deceptive rhetoric about negotiations and to take steps to end the war, to cleanse our country of occupation and occupiers, we need effective tools.”

Patrick Reevell of ABC News contributed to this report.

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