At least eight people have lost their lives and more than 80 others, including children, sustained injuries following a massive overnight barrage of Russian missiles and drones targeting Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, according to local authorities.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that the debris from downed drones sparked multiple fires, with fears growing that some residents may still be trapped beneath the ruins of a collapsed residential building.
Explosions also rocked Kharkiv, a city in the northeast of the country, where two people were reportedly injured, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
In the wake of the assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the cancellation of his diplomatic trip to South Africa.
Initial figures released by Ukraine’s emergency service and the interior ministry had indicated that nine people were killed in Kyiv.
However, the interior minister later adjusted the toll to eight, clarifying that the remains of the ninth individual were likely parts of victims already accounted for.
Mayor Klitschko, posting on social media, noted that “six children and a pregnant woman were among those injured.”
Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, also revealed that “phone calls can be heard from the wreckage,” raising hopes that survivors might still be trapped underneath. He added that two children remained unaccounted for.
One apartment block was completely reduced to rubble in the attack, and neighboring buildings suffered extensive damage, with windows shattered and balconies torn apart.
Emergency crews have continued combing through the debris, supported by rescue dogs in the desperate search for survivors.
Klitschko stated that the Svyatoshynskyi district in western Kyiv bore the brunt of the strike.
Other affected districts included Holosiivskyi in the south, Solomyanskyi in the southwest, and Shevchenkivskyi in the west, officials reported.
Videos shared online showed terrifying scenes of missiles striking the city and triggering large infernos.
The onslaught came just hours after former U.S. President Donald Trump accused Zelensky of obstructing peace talks.
Zelensky has consistently refused to cede Crimea to Russia, maintaining that the southern peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, remains Ukrainian territory.
Despite Trump’s claim that “Crimea was lost years ago,” Zelensky referenced the 2018 “Crimea declaration” by then U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which affirmed that America “rejects Russia’s attempted annexation.”
A woman, whose apartment was severely damaged in the latest Kyiv strikes, told the BBC she had already fled twice from her hometown in eastern Ukraine, now under Russian occupation. When asked about the idea of giving up Ukrainian land to broker peace, she responded that doing so would be “against our constitution.”
Thursday’s assault stands among the most lethal attacks on Kyiv since 8 July of the previous year, when Russian strikes killed 34 and injured 121, targeting key civilian infrastructure such as the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital.
In Kharkiv, which lies just 40 kilometers from the Russian border, Mayor Terekhov said “private houses” were among those hit during the overnight assault.
Reacting to the attack, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha argued that Russia’s actions demonstrate who truly stands in the way of peace.
He said, “the overnight attacks indicated that Russia and not Ukraine was ‘the obstacle to peace’, and that Putin did not respect peace efforts ‘and only wants to continue the war.’”
Meanwhile, Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected in Moscow this week, following the U.S. president’s assertion that a peace agreement is “very close.”
U.S. Vice President JD Vance added that the American proposal includes a plan to freeze the current battle lines “at some level close to where they are today.”
However, Ukrainian leaders have pushed back against any such notion. Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko insisted that a “full ceasefire” is the “necessary first step,” warning that Ukraine cannot accept a “frozen conflict.”
Ukraine’s air force has cautioned that nearly all regions across the country remain at risk of new airstrikes.
The Russian military has yet to comment on the overnight operation. However, Russia’s defense ministry claimed on social media that 87 Ukrainian drones were intercepted or destroyed across several Russian regions during the same night.
