Russia kills at least 13 in massive strike on Kyiv, Ukraine says

Russian missiles and drones battered Kyiv overnight, killing at least 13 people and injuring scores as emergency crews dug through a partially collapsed nine-storey apartment block and other damaged homes across the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko called it the biggest attack yet on Kyiv.

Loud blasts shook the city for hours. Ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles hit Kyiv, and rescue workers worked through rubble after a direct strike brought down six floors of the apartment building. People were trapped inside damaged homes in multiple districts as crews searched the debris.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said damage was recorded at 30 locations across the city and that 54 people were injured, including two children. Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 20 residential buildings were damaged. A paramedic was among those in critical condition.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned hours earlier that Russia was preparing another massive strike and cut short a visit to Dublin for the start of Ireland’s six-month term in the rotating presidency of the European Union. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the assault a “night of horror” and urged partners not to delay decisions on air-defense supplies.

Poland scrambled fighter jets as a precaution, and no airspace violation was recorded. Russia’s Defense Ministry called the strikes a “massive” attack using long-range precision weapons and drones against military-industrial and energy targets and military airfields, and later called the operation retaliation for recent attacks on Russian civil infrastructure. Shattered apartment blocks, blocked streets and rescue teams were still searching for survivors long after the explosions stopped.