Russia launches biggest Kyiv attack, killing at least 17 people
Kyiv endured its biggest attack since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with missiles and drones killing at least 17 and forcing Zelensky to cut short a trip to Dublin.
Rescue crews worked through the wreckage in Kyiv after Russia’s overnight assault killed at least 17 people and injured at least 90 more. Vitali Klitschko, the capital’s mayor, said the strike was the biggest on Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than four years ago, a bombardment that hit apartment blocks, civilian infrastructure and neighborhoods across the city.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired 74 missiles and 496 drones nationwide in the attack, including ballistic and cruise missiles. Ukrainian air defenses downed or neutralized 48 missiles and 476 drones, but 25 ballistic missiles and 12 drones still struck 33 locations. In Kyiv, damage was recorded at 30 sites, including 20 residential buildings, and one apartment building partially collapsed across six floors after a direct hit.
The State Emergency Service deployed nearly 500 personnel and 100 specialized vehicles, including a helicopter, as searches continued and officials warned the death toll could rise. Klitschko said the scale of the destruction left rescuers digging through collapsed sections of housing and damaged streets as residents waited in metro stations and underground shelters during hours of explosions.
The attack came after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia was preparing a “massive strike” and cut short a visit to Dublin, where he had been marking the start of Ireland’s six-month term in the rotating presidency of the European Union. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the bombardment a “night of horror” and pressed Ukraine’s allies to rush more air-defense systems and missiles. Poland scrambled fighter jets in response, and Finland briefly imposed an aviation restriction zone before lifting it. Russian officials said the strikes were retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure and claimed they had hit military and energy targets around Kyiv and military airfields in other regions, including Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy and Chernihiv.
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