A major overnight Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has killed at least eight people, including two children, and injured dozens more, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday morning.
Explosions shook the city for hours as Russia launched a combined assault using missiles and drones. The strikes caused massive destruction in several parts of Kyiv, leaving homes burning and streets littered with glass and debris.
According to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, a five-storey residential building in the Darnytskyi district was directly hit, completely destroying parts of the structure. Rescue teams are working across at least 20 sites to pull people from the rubble.
“Everything is destroyed,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s city military administration. Mayor Vitali Klitschko called the incident a “massive attack,” the first of its kind since U.S. President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month in Alaska for peace talks that have so far failed.
Images and videos shared online show apartment blocks engulfed in flames, smoke rising across the skyline, and rescue workers carrying victims from the wreckage.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling it “a clear response” to recent global calls for a ceasefire. He urged the international community to increase pressure on Russia with new sanctions and named China and Hungary among countries from which Ukraine expects a stronger response.
“The death of children should stir far greater emotions than anything else,” Zelenskyy said. He added that Russia “chooses missiles over dialogue” and warned that Moscow “does not fear consequences.”
Members of Zelenskyy’s administration will meet U.S. officials in New York on Friday to discuss further support and strategies to end the war.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that Ukraine also carried out drone attacks on at least seven Russian regions overnight. Moscow said its air defense systems intercepted over 100 drones, but some strikes reportedly hit two oil refineries in Krasnodar and Samara.
The attack comes at a time when diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled. Talks between Trump and Putin earlier this month raised hopes for peace, but so far, no progress has been made. Instead, both sides continue to escalate attacks, with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.
