Kyiv came under one of its heaviest bombardments in weeks overnight, as Russian missiles and drones struck across the Ukrainian capital, killing and wounding civilians and setting off explosions that shook the city for hours.
What happened
Ukrainian officials said at least eight people were killed and 34 wounded in the attack, which unfolded in the early hours of Thursday, the Associated Press reported. The head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, gave the death toll, while the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said dozens had been injured. Officials described the figures as preliminary, and they rose through the night as emergency crews reached damaged buildings.
The assault combined ballistic and cruise missiles with strike drones, according to Ukrainian authorities, and damage was reported at more than two dozen locations across the city — mostly residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. In the Desnianskyi district, people were reported trapped inside a damaged nine-story apartment block as rescuers worked to reach them.
A warning that came true
The strike followed an explicit warning. President Volodymyr Zelensky had said in the preceding days that Ukraine had intelligence of a large Russian attack in preparation, urging people to heed air-raid alerts and take shelter. When the sirens sounded and the first explosions came, many residents were already sheltering in basements and metro stations.
The two sides
Ukraine and its Western partners say Russia has repeatedly struck apartment buildings and other civilian sites in such mass attacks. Moscow, for its part, generally says its strikes target military and defense-related infrastructure and denies deliberately hitting civilians — an assertion Kyiv rejects, pointing to the recurring damage to homes. No detailed statement from the Russian defense ministry setting out its targets in this attack was immediately available.
The wider war
The attack is part of an intensifying campaign of long-range Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities in the war, now in its fourth year since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Such barrages, combining missiles with large numbers of cheap drones, have strained Ukraine's air defenses and repeatedly forced civilians into shelters. For Kyiv's residents, the overnight assault was another in a lengthening series of sleepless, dangerous nights — and, for at least eight families, a deadly one. Rescue and damage assessments were continuing on Thursday, and officials cautioned that the toll could still change.
