At least 13 people have been killed and more than 30 injured in one of the largest Russian attacks on Kyiv in weeks, with children among the casualties and residential buildings left smouldering after a night of relentless missile and drone strikes.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said the enemy was “once again deliberately targeting residential areas and killing civilians” as explosions rocked the capital from around 11pm on Wednesday. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 74 missiles and 496 drones overnight, mainly targeting Kyiv. While air defences downed or neutralised 48 missiles and 476 drones, 25 ballistic missiles and 12 drones struck 33 locations across all 10 districts of the city.
“Russia killed 13 people, including children, in a massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv.”
Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters during what he called a “furious enemy attack”. He described the collapse of the first to sixth floors of an apartment building after a direct hit, and firefighters battled a blaze on a hotel rooftop. Emergency services rescued 34 people from damaged sites, including a nine-storey residential block where people were trapped. Damage was reported at an ambulance station, leaving at least one person critically injured.
“Another horrific night for the residents of the city, who were forced to spend it in shelters,” Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to the US, wrote on X. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on allies to send more air defence systems, saying the country needed “not only words of condemnation but concrete action to stop Russian terror”.
The attack came hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that intelligence showed Russia was preparing a “massive” strike, and as Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Vladimir Putin had ordered new offensive operations to capture Kyiv. Russia’s defence ministry claimed it was retaliating for Ukrainian strikes on its energy infrastructure.
Those Ukrainian strikes have had a visible impact. Two-thirds of Russia’s 83 regions are now reporting fuel supply problems, with Crimea declaring a state of emergency and banning all fuel sales after tourism collapsed. Putin acknowledged the issue last week, telling state media that “of course, these strikes on our infrastructure facilities create problems”. But as Kyiv reels from the deadliest attack in weeks, Ukraine’s allies face renewed pressure to step up air defence supplies.