At least 10 people have been killed and 56 others injured after Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in one of the deadliest attacks on the city in recent weeks.
Ukrainian officials said the strikes caused widespread destruction across the capital, damaging residential buildings, public infrastructure and other facilities. A direct hit on a nine-storey apartment building caused six floors to collapse, trapping residents beneath the rubble. Emergency crews worked through the night to rescue survivors and search for additional victims.
Authorities confirmed that two children were among those injured during the bombardment.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the attack as devastating, saying a Russian projectile struck a residential building directly, resulting in the collapse of multiple floors and extensive structural damage.
The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said at least 36 locations across the city sustained damage during the overnight strikes.
He accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods, stating that residential areas bore the brunt of the assault, leading to significant casualties and widespread destruction.
The attack followed a warning by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who cut short an official visit to Ireland after intelligence reports indicated Russia was preparing a large-scale overnight offensive.
As air raid sirens echoed across much of Ukraine, thousands of Kyiv residents sought refuge in underground metro stations, carrying children, pets and essential belongings while explosions rocked the city.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, described the bombardment as another harrowing night for the capital’s residents, many of whom were forced to remain in shelters until morning.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces targeted Ukrainian military and energy infrastructure around Kyiv, along with military airfields in the Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Moscow said the operation was conducted using long-range missiles and drones in retaliation for what it claimed were recent Ukrainian attacks on civilian infrastructure inside Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that it had carried out its own overnight strike on the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region.
Ukraine’s General Staff said the operation successfully hit one of the refinery’s primary crude oil processing units, adding that authorities were still assessing the extent of the damage.
The latest exchange of attacks underscores the continuing escalation in the more than four-year conflict, with both Russia and Ukraine intensifying long-range strikes on strategic infrastructure while civilians continue to bear the heavy human cost of the war.
