At least 15 people, including a child, were killed in a wave of overnight Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, Ukraine said Thursday. The country’s State Emergency Service reported that 145 people were injured, including 14 children, as rescue workers combed through rubble in search of survivors.
Kyiv City Military Administration chief Tymur Tkachenko said the attack damaged over 100 infrastructure sites—homes, schools, kindergartens, medical centres and a university. More than 300 personnel were deployed in response, with Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and emergency services chief Andriy Danyk coordinating rescue efforts on the ground.
The Islamic Cultural Centre in Kyiv was among the damaged buildings, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes, saying that “peace without strength is impossible,” and urged Western allies to act decisively.
He stressed that the bombardment also targeted Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions, underlining the nationwide scale of the assault. Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted 288 of 309 drones and three out of eight Iskander-K cruise missiles fired by Russia.
However, five missiles and 21 drones made direct impact, including one that struck a residential building in Kyiv, leaving families homeless overnight. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed responsibility, calling it a coordinated strike on Ukraine’s military-industrial facilities and drone supply infrastructure.
“All designated objects were hit,” the ministry stated, insisting the operation targeted military assets, not civilians. As air-raid sirens continue to wail across Ukraine, officials warn the humanitarian toll may yet rise, with many still trapped beneath collapsed buildings.