An overnight Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital has killed at least 21 people, including four children, and wounded dozens of others, officials said.
Powerful explosions rocked Kyiv into the early hours of Thursday morning, as Russian projectiles damaged buildings in 33 locations across all 10 districts of the city, including the headquarters of the European Union mission to Ukraine and the British Council.
Local officials said at least 48 people were wounded in the attack, with casualties expected to rise.
“Dozens … are in critical condition, and doctors are now fighting for their lives,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
The attack was the first major combined Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv since United States President Donald Trump met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska earlier this month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
The strikes on the capital were part of one of Russia’s biggest air attacks on Ukraine in the war to date, as Moscow launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles across the country overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, in a clear sign, Zelenskyy and his allies said, of Moscow’s rejection of peace negotiations.
Among the dead in Kyiv were four children aged between two and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city military administration.
“Everything is destroyed,” said Tkachenko. “Tonight, Kyiv is under massive attack by the Russian terrorist state.”
Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi was at the site of a large residential apartment building that had taken a direct hit. He said the majority of the people confirmed to have been killed so far had died at the site.
“These were civilian homes,” he said. “What we’re hearing from rescue crews is that there are still people missing. We’re seeing families waiting, people trying to console one another.”
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that Friday would be declared a day of mourning for victims of the attacks, with flags lowered on public buildings and public events banned.
EU, British Council offices damaged
Among the damaged properties were the European Union delegation’s building in Kyiv and the offices of the British Council, which promotes international cultural and educational opportunities, nearby.
Also affected were a Turkish enterprise and the Embassy of Azerbaijan, according to Zelenskyy.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Brussels was summoning the Russian envoy in response to the strike.
“No diplomatic mission should ever be a target,” she said, adding that the attack showed “a deliberate choice to escalate and mock the peace efforts.
“Russia must stop the killing and negotiate,” she said.
British Foreign Minister David Lammy said he had summoned the Russian ambassador to the UK over the strikes, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his thoughts were with “all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv”.
“This bloodshed must end,” he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the attacks and demanded Russia join peace negotiations, warning that a further package of “hard, biting sanctions” would soon be forthcoming, while European Council President Antonio Costa said that he was “horrified” by the attacks, and called the strike on the EU delegation building “deliberate”.
“The EU will not be intimidated,” he added.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres renewed his call “for a ceasefire that results in a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace”, his spokesman said.
‘It’s inhuman’
In Kyiv, Oleksandr Khilko told The Associated Press news agency that he had arrived at the scene of one of the strikes after a missile hit the residential building where his sister lives.
He heard screams from people who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors.
“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” he told the AP, his clothes covered in dust and the tips of his fingers black with soot.
“With every cell of my body, I want this war to end as soon as possible. I wait, but every time the air raid alarm sounds, I am afraid.”
Ukraine’s air force said it had downed 563 of nearly 600 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched in Russian attacks overnight.
Ukraine’s national power grid operator said Russia’s attacks also damaged energy facilities in several regions, leading to power cuts, with 60,000 households left without electricity in the central Vinnytsia region, Reuters reported.
Zelenskyy calls for action
The strikes on Kyiv come amid so-far unsuccessful efforts by Trump to convince Putin to cease his war on Ukraine, and as both Moscow and Kyiv trade blame over a diplomatic impasse in efforts to end the fighting.
In a post on X, Zelenskyy sent his condolences to the loved ones of the victims and said the Russian strikes were “a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy”.
He called for greater pressure from the international community on Russia, including “new, tough sanctions”, singling out Moscow’s ally, China, and EU member Hungary as two countries that Ukraine “expect[ed] a reaction from”.
“Russia still takes advantage of the fact that at least part of the world turns a blind eye to murdered children and seeks excuses for Putin,” he said.
“The death of children should definitely stir far greater emotions than anything else.”
He added: “We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions.
“The Russians understand only strength and pressure,” he added. “For every strike, Moscow must feel the consequences.”
In Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Basravi said Ukrainians were broadly sceptical about the prospect of peace talks in the face of ongoing Russian attacks.
“If you speak to Ukrainian people, they scoff at the idea of a negotiated solution,” he said. “They talk about it as if it’s the punchline to a bad joke.”
Russian oil refineries hit
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said Ukrainian drones targeted at least seven regions of the country overnight, with air defence systems intercepting and destroying more than 100 drones.
More than 80 people were forced to evacuate due to falling debris from the drones in the north of the Rostov region.
The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces said two Russian oil refineries – the Afipsky refinery in the Krasnodar region and the Kuybyshev refinery in the Samara region – were hit in its attacks, the Reuters news agency reported.
Footage showed a fire burning at the refinery in Samara.
