Kyiv was struck by a “massive attack” from Russia overnight with drones and missiles killing at least 15 people, including four children, according to officials.
Among those killed are children aged 2, 17 and 14, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. At least 10 children were also injured, he said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said that the Kremlin unleashed 629 air attack weapons on the country overnight, comprising 598 drones and 31 missiles.
Russia’s defense ministry said it struck “military-industrial complex enterprises and military air bases in Ukraine using high-precision weapons”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the assault a “horrific and deliberate killing of civilians” in a post on X.
Ukrainian authorities said some 500 rescuers and 1,000 police officers were responding to incidents in multiple locations, including a building of the European Union mission to Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she was “outraged” by the attack, calling it “another grim reminder of what is at stake”. “It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorize Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women and children, and even targeting the European Union” she said.
Von der Leyen said that the EU is “keeping maximum pressure on Russia”, including by tightening its sanctions regime. The bloc is summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels in response to the attack, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.
A British Council building in Kyiv was also damaged by the strikes, according to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace”.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of targeting diplomats “in direct breach of the Vienna convention” and called for “worldwide condemnation” in a statement on X.
