Russia kills one in massive drone and missile attack on Kyiv

Russia renewed its pressure campaign on Kyiv early Thursday with drones and ballistic missiles, killing one person, injuring at least 31 and damaging homes and public infrastructure across six districts of the capital. The strike was part of a broader pattern of repeated attacks designed to exhaust Ukraine’s air defenses and keep civilians under constant strain.

In the eastern Darnytskyi district, a residential building partially collapsed after the attack, sending emergency crews rushing to the scene as people were initially feared trapped under the rubble. The Ukrainian Emergency Service later said at least 27 people were rescued. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 apartments were destroyed and water-supply problems hit the left bank of Kyiv, adding another layer of disruption to neighborhoods already dealing with shattered windows, damaged facades and smoke-filled streets.

Tymur Tkachenko, the chief of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said emergency operations were also underway in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts, while other buildings in Dniprovskyi district were damaged, including one struck on its roof by a drone. Residents reported loud explosions around 3 a.m. as crews searched for survivors amid rubble, debris and the remains of collapsed masonry. Damage was also recorded in other parts of the capital, with debris falling on non-residential buildings, a parking lot and a business center.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said the assault also hit civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in several other cities, including Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa. Kyiv bore the heaviest losses, but the broader geographic spread showed how Russia is widening the pressure beyond the front line and into urban centers that depend on functioning air defenses, power, water and emergency response systems.

The Kyiv strike came against the backdrop of another major bombardment, when Russia launched at least 800 drones across about 20 regions of Ukraine in a daytime barrage that killed at least six people and wounded dozens. Ukrainian officials described that attack as one of the longest of the war, a reminder that Moscow is pairing overnight missile strikes with mass drone waves to stretch defenders, test resilience and force a political response from Ukraine’s partners that matches the scale of the military threat.