An overnight Russian combined missile and drone attack triggered fires, smashed buildings and buried residents under rubble in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, killing nine people and injuring more than 70, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.
The attack set off fires and six children were among the wounded, with some people still trapped under rubble, officials said.
“There has been destruction. The search is continuing for people under rubble,” the State Emergency Service wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Pictures posted on Telegram showed rescue teams working with floodlights, moving cautiously through piles of rubble and clambering up ladders extended along the facades of buildings. Police were calling from apartment to apartment to determine whether residents were safe.
Apartment resident speaks of terror
Rescue teams were operating at 13 sites in Kyiv with climbing specialists and sniffer dogs, the emergency services said. Forty fires had broken out.
“Mobile telephones are heard ringing beneath rubble. The search will continue until it becomes clear that they have got everyone,” it said.
As the U.S. attempts to push Ukraine toward a ceasefire, Russia appears to be heading in the opposite direction. CBC’s Terence McKenna examines the latest moves and why some think Vladimir Putin might be trying to manipulate Donald Trump through his billionaire real estate buddy.
Fires had broken out in garages, administrative buildings and falling metal fragments had struck vehicles.
An air raid alert was in effect in the capital for six hours.
“There was the air raid siren, we did not even have time to dress to go out of the apartment. One blast came after the other, all windows were blown out, doors, walls, my husband and son were thrown to the other side,” Kyiv resident Viktoria Bakal said, describing the attack.
Russia launched 145 drones and 70 missiles, including 11 ballistic missiles, in the overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram. Air force units shot down 112 targets.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that apart from Kyiv and the surrounding region, seven other regions were under “mass” attack.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, endured overnight waves of Russian missiles and drones, Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.
Terekhov said the city in northeast Ukraine was attacked 14 times with drones and 10 times with missiles. Multi-storey residential buildings, a city polyclinic, a school building, private yards, industrial enterprises, and a hotel complex were damaged and one person was taken to hospital, he said.
There was also damage in Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, where emergency services said Russian forces launched a repeat strike on rescue teams attending a fire, injuring one worker.
In the industrial city of Pavlohrad, which lies in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, 14 multi-storey buildings were damaged, mostly their windows and balconies, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram, adding that no one was hurt in the attack.
Diplomatic tensions
The attacks came at a critical moment in Russia’s war in Ukraine, which began with Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, with both Kyiv and Moscow under pressure from the U.S. President Donald Trump to show progress toward a peace deal.
Trump and his administration have threatened to walk away from efforts to broker a ceasefire if no headway is made, leaving European nations looking for ways to support Kyiv.
But on Thursday, Trump directed a social media post at Russian President Vladimir Putin, concerning the Kyiv attacks.
“Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP!” Trump said.
Talks involving the U.S., Ukraine and European officials to discuss ending Russia’s war in Ukraine have faltered as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly cancelled his trip to London and negotiations were downgraded.
Talks in London on Wednesday aimed at achieving a deal made “significant progress” toward reaching a “common position on the next steps,” according to a joint statement from Britain, France and Germany. But the talks were downgraded after a last-minute decision by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio not to attend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed the talks in London on Wednesday, while not “easy,” had been “constructive.” He made the remark at a joint press conference in South Africa alongside President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Trump on Wednesday appeared to blame Zelenskyy for a lack of progress after he would not recognize Russia’s occupation of the Crimea peninsula, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as part of a peace deal.
Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would violate Ukraine’s constitution. Ukraine says it is committed to seeking a full and unconditional ceasefire.
Russia, too, accused Zelenskyy of wrecking diplomacy aimed at reaching a peace deal after he refused this week to agree to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday in Russia that it was becoming clearer by the minute that Zelenskyy lacked the capacity to negotiate a deal to end the war.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that the “brutal strikes” in Kyiv showed that Russia, not Ukraine, was the obstacle to peace.
There was no immediate comment by Russia on the overnight attacks.
