Russia launched a sustained missile and drone attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 55 in what was one of the deadliest nights in the Ukrainian capital since the full-scale war began in spring 2022.
The toll seemed likely to rise as several sites across the capital were hit. At a nine-story Soviet-era apartment block in the west ofKyiv, an apparent direct missile hit had led to part of the building collapsing, leaving a gaping hole and a pile of rubble in the middle of the block.
Thirty apartments were destroyed in the strike, said Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, surveying the scene. “There could be people under the rubble, and we can’t exclude that the number of dead may rise,” he said. It was not clear how many people had been inside the building when the missile hit.
As dawn broke, hundreds of rescue workers were attempting to clear the rubble at the site and rescue those stuck in neighbouring apartments. Shops and buildings within a radius of two blocks also suffered damage and smashed windows.
“A ballistic missile had a direct hit on a nine-story apartment building, a section is destroyed, and is destroyed right down to the basement because it was a direct hit,” said interior minister Ihor Klymenko.
Wave after wave of drone attacks could be heard during the night, with the air raid siren active for several hours and thousands of Kyiv residents sheltering in metro stations. Buildings reverberated across the city as air defence units were active trying to fend off the attacks. As the city came back to life on Tuesday morning, there was a burning smell in the air of central Kyiv and a cloud of dark smoke hung over the outskirts.
Russia has launched almost nightly attacks on Ukraine over more than three years of full-scale war, but direct hits on Kyiv are rare, as the capital is well protected by air defence systems. Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, partly in apparent revenge for an audacious Ukrainian drone operation thattargeted long-range bombers stationed at bases deep inside Russia.
In Moscow, the city’s airports were briefly closed in the early hours of Tuesday, amid reports of a Ukrainian drone attack. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said two Ukrainian drones approached the city and air defences responded.
US-led attempts to start a peace process have largely failed, with Russia ignoring Donald Trump’s demands to agree to a full ceasefire before talks begin. Direct talks in Istanbul have produced little in the way of progress and there is no sign that Russia is willing to abandon its maximalist war aims.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been due to meet Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday, but the White House announced that the US president wascutting his visit short and returning to Washingtonon Monday night due to tensions in the Middle East.