There was terror in Kyiv as Russian bombs rained down killing 15 people and destroying dozens of buildings – President Zelensky calls the attack ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ of the war
At least 15 people were killed and 156 injured in Kyiv overnight in one of the deadliest attacks on the Ukraine capital since the full-scale war started three years ago.
Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, calling the attack “one of the most terrifying strikes” on Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that tomorrow would be an official day of mourning. He said that a 62-year-old US citizen was among those killed. Klitschko said 40 have been taken to hospitals. He said residential buildings and other infrastructure severely damaged. ‘We hope that no dead will be found under the rubble, but we cannot rule it out,’ he added. ‘The death toll may increase.’
Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko wrote on X: ‘Waking up in utter nightmare: people trapped under rubble and full buildings collapsed.’ Kyiv residents heard loud sirens from late Monday, through the early morning hours of today, making it a loud and sleepless night for many in the city. The sirens continued as dawn broke – an alarm purportedly for a ballistic threat, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Russian attack delivered ‘direct hits on residential buildings,’said a spokesman for the Kyiv City Military Administration. ‘Rockets – from the upper floors to the basement.’ Thirty apartments were destroyed in a single residential block after it was struck by a ballistic missile.
He said: ‘We have 27 locations that were attacked by the enemy. We currently have over 2,000 people working there, rescuers, police, municipal services and doctors.’ Olena Lapyshniak, 49, was shaken from the strike that nearly levelled her apartment building. She heard a whistling sound and then two explosions that blew out her windows and doors. ‘It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life,’ she said. ‘There’s no military infrastructure here, nothing here, nothing. It’s horrible when people just die at night.’ The attack came after two rounds of direct peace talks failed to make progress on ending the war, now in its fourth year.
Russia has repeatedly hit civilian areas of Ukraine with missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Russia says it strikes only military targets. Russia has in recent months stepped up its aerial attacks. It launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine on June 10 in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the war. Russia also pounded Kyiv on April 24, killing at least 12 people.
The intensified long-range strikes have coincided with a Russian summer offensive on eastern and northeastern sections of the roughly 620-mile front line, where Ukraine is short-handed and needs more military support from its Western partners.
Uncertainty about U.S. policy on the war has fueled doubts about how much help Kyiv can count on. Zelensky had been set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at a G7 summit in Canada to press him for more help. But Trump returned early to Washington on Monday night because of tensions in the Middle East. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it is unclear when another round of talks might take place.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia’s attacks during the G7 summit showed Putin’s “total disrespect” for the U.S. and other countries. ‘Russia not only rejects a ceasefire or a leaders’ meeting to find solutions and end the war. It cynically strikes Ukraine’s capital while pretending to seek diplomatic solutions,’ Sybiha wrote on social media. Ukrainian forces have hit back against Russia with their own domestically produced long-range drones. The Russian military said it downed 203 Ukrainian drones. Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia reported briefly halting flights overnight in and out of all four Moscow airports, as well as those in the cities of Kaluga, Tambov and Nizhny Novgorod as a precaution.