Ukraine and Russia have both pledged to intensify fighting after a massive Russian barrage on Kyiv killed at least 27 people, destroyed apartment buildings, and forced tens of thousands into shelters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces would 'definitely' retaliate for the overnight attack, as he inspected a partially destroyed apartment block. The Kremlin vowed to increase 'pressure' on Kyiv, while Mayor Vitali Klitschko described it as the 'enemy’s most massive attack on the capital'.
Zelenskyy urged allies to provide more air defences and requested US licences to manufacture Patriot missiles. EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said she would propose new sanctions on Moscow, and UN chief António Guterres reiterated calls for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian publishing house reported losing about 800,000 books when a warehouse was destroyed in the strikes, and the Red Cross said its key warehouse was destroyed, losing $2m worth of aid.
On Friday, an industrial facility caught fire after Ukraine attacked the Russian city of Belgorod with missiles, damaging energy infrastructure and killing one woman, according to Russian news agencies. In Washington, a US official said President Donald Trump 'wants this war settled so the senseless killing ends' and remains optimistic about a peace deal. Zelenskyy called for faster air-defence aid at next week's Nato summit in Ankara, which Trump will attend.
German prosecutors accused Ukrainian 'state authorities' of ordering the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions, a charge likely to strain Kyiv-Berlin ties. Zelenskyy said he had not seen full details of the indictment. In other attacks, two people were killed and eight injured in Russian overnight strikes on Ukraine, including in the Sumy region and Kryvyi Rih. Earlier, three people died in eastern Ukraine, including a seven-year-old child near Synelnykove.
