Russian missile, drone attacks on Kyiv have killed at least 16, Zelenskyy says
Highest number of children injured in single attack on capital since 2022 invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the death toll has risen to 16 following a spate of overnight Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's capital, with two children among the dead.
"As of now, as a result of Russia's terror attack on Kyiv, 16 people have been killed, including two children and one policeman," he said in a post on X late Thursday.
"Over 150 have been injured, including 16 children and six policemen."
Ukraine's Emergency Service said that a five-month-old girl was among the wounded children, which had been earlier reported at 14.
It was the highest number of children injured in a single attack on Kyiv since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to public records consulted by The Associated Press.
Partial collapse of residential building
Explosions rocked Kyiv from about midnight local time onwards and blazes lit up the night sky.
A large part of a nine-storey residential building collapsed in the attack, City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. Rescue teams searched for people trapped under the rubble.
Yana Zhabborova, 35, a resident of the damaged building, woke up to the sound of thundering explosions, which blew off the doors and windows of her home.
"It is just stress and shock that there is nothing left," said Zhabborova, a mother of a five-month-old infant and a five-year-old child.
Russia fired 309 Shahed and decoy drones, and eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Ukrainian air defences intercepted and jammed 288 strike drones and three missiles.
Five missiles and 21 drones struck targets.
Yurii Kravchuk, 62, stood wrapped in a blanket next to a damaged building with a bandage around his head. He had heard the missile alert but did not get to a shelter in time, he told Reuters.
"I started waking up my wife and then there was an explosion. My daughter ended up in the hospital," he said.
Russian troops also struck a five-storey residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, according to the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin. He said one person was killed and at least 11 more injured.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, Tkachenko said, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts. More than 100 buildings were damaged in Kyiv, including homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities and universities, he said.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up airstrikes in recent months on Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines of the war.
Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow's all-out invasion began nearly three and a half years ago.
Russia says it shot down drones overnight
Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defence said Thursday that it had shot down 32 Ukrainian drones overnight.
A drone attack had sparked a blaze at an industrial site in Russia's Penza region, local Gov. Oleg Melnichenko said.
He didn't immediately give further details other than to say that there were no casualties.
In the Volgograd region, some trains were also halted after drone wreckage fell on local railway infrastructure, state rail operator Russian Railways said.
Russia's Defence Ministry also said its forces took full control of the strategically important city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian officials, who typically don't confirm retreats, didn't immediately comment.
Zelenskyy calls on allies to pressure Moscow
Russian and Ukrainian troops have battled for control of Chasiv Yar for nearly 18 months. It includes a hilltop from which troops can attack other key points in the region that form the backbone of Ukraine's eastern defences.
Victor Trehubov, a Ukrainian military spokesperson, told The Associated Press that Russia's claim was untrue.
"Just a fabrication, there wasn't even a change in the situation," he said.
A report on Thursday from Ukraine's Army General Staff said there were seven clashes in Chasiv Yar in the past 24 hours. An attached map showed most of the town as being under Russian control.
DeepState, an open-source Ukrainian map widely used by the military and analysts, showed early Thursday that neighbourhoods to the south and west of Chasiv Yar remained as so-called grey zones, or uncontrolled by either side.
The attack targeted the Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions, with Ukraine's capital being the primary target, Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging service.
"Today, the world once again saw Russia's answer to our desire for peace with America and Europe," Zelenskyy said.
"New demonstrative killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible."
He called on Ukraine's allies to follow through on defence commitments and pressure Moscow toward real negotiations.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a shorter deadline — Aug. 8 — for peace efforts to make progress, or Washington will impose punitive sanctions and tariffs.
He said on Thursday that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will travel to Russia after his current stop in Israel.
Trump has grown increasingly critical of Russia. "I think it's disgusting what they're doing," he said after the latest attacks. The U.S. is ready to impose sanctions, but "I don't know that sanctions bother him," he said, referring to Putin.
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in U.S.-led peace efforts in an attempt to capture more Ukrainian land. Some observers are skeptical that sanctions will change that.
"He's shown that he is quite willing to continue his course of action, despite whatever Western sanctions there are," Mark N. Katz, a retired George Mason University professor and Russian foreign policy specialist, told Times Radio.
Katz said Trump might be able to exercise some leverage over Russia by increasing military support for Ukraine — though he's been critical of how much support the United States has provided so far.
With files from CBC News and Reuters