At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured in Kyiv overnight, according to local authorities, in what the city's mayor Vitali Klitschko called the worst Russian attack on the capital in more than four years of full-scale war.
Russia fired nearly 500 drones and more than 70 missiles in the hours-long assault early on Thursday, with waves of cruise and ballistic missiles met by Ukrainian air defences. Fires broke out across the city, hitting residential buildings in several districts and a hotel on a central boulevard. In one location on the left bank of the Dnipro River, a large section of a nine-storey apartment block was destroyed, leaving rescuers searching through the rubble for survivors. The death toll rose steadily through the day, with about 70 people admitted to hospital.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned on Wednesday that a major attack was possible, and more than 50,000 people took shelter in metro stations overnight, some bringing mattresses and tents. One medical student, Oleksandra Voloshyna, said it was the first time since the war began that she had decided not to spend the night at home. Zelenskyy cut short a visit to Ireland and returned to Kyiv, saying that if allies had provided the air defence missiles they had agreed to supply, the damage would have been far less.
In response to the attack, Poland scrambled fighter jets and Finland imposed a temporary aviation restriction zone. The Russian defence ministry said the strikes were retaliation for Ukrainian attacks and had targeted military and energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials have intensified long-range drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, causing fuel shortages and petrol rationing across several Russian regions, while in occupied Crimea Russian authorities have declared a state of emergency.
