KYIV, Ukraine — A massive Russian assault using missiles and drones hammered Ukraine’s capital overnight into Thursday, with powerful explosions rattling the entire city of Kyiv for hours.
The strikes left one person dead and wounded numerous others, according to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that at least 11 people were injured in the attacks, which also caused damage to residential buildings throughout the city.
The assault — carried out with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones — hit all 10 of Kyiv’s districts, spanning both banks of the Dnipro River. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials issued early warnings about the incoming attack, many residents sought safety inside metro stations.
Klitschko urged the public to stay in shelters, calling it a relentless “furious enemy attack” on the capital. He reported that five people were hurt in the Shevchenkivskyi district, including one paramedic who was left in extremely critical condition.
In the Desnianskyi district, residents became trapped inside a damaged nine-story apartment building, prompting rescue crews to rush to the scene. A fire ignited on the roof of a multistory building in the Holosiivskyi district, while blazes and debris trapping people were also reported in the Sviatoshynskyi and Darnytskyi districts.
Tkachenko said the attack partially destroyed a residential structure in the Desnianskyi district and sparked fires near homes in two locations within the Pecherskyi district, as well as near an administrative building in the Solomianskyi district. Additional damage was recorded in the Obolonskyi and Podilskyi districts as well.
The assault comes amid a period of escalating Russian strikes on Kyiv in recent weeks, even as Ukraine has continued its own long-range drone campaign targeting Russian military installations and energy infrastructure — a campaign that has triggered fuel shortages and disrupted supply lines inside Russia.
