Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital with drones and missiles early Thursday, including a rare strike in the town center, killing no less than 15 people and wounding 48, local authorities said.
It was the primary major Russian attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S.-led peace efforts to finish the three-year war struggled to achieve traction. Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of differing kinds across the country, based on Ukraine’s Air Force, making it one in every of the war’s biggest air attacks.
Among the many dead were 4 children between 2 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the pinnacle of Kyiv’s city administration. The numbers are expected to rise. Rescue teams were on site to drag people trapped underneath the rubble.
“Russia chooses ballistics as a substitute of the negotiating table,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X following the attack. “We expect a response from everyone on the planet who has called for peace but now more often stays silent slightly than taking principled positions.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it carried out a strike against military air bases and corporations “inside Ukraine’s military-industrial complex” using long-range weapons, including Kinzhal missiles.
“All designated objects were hit,” the ministry said in an announcement.
The ministry also said it shot down 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly within the country’s southwest. A drone attack sparked a blaze on the Afipsky oil refinery within the Krasnodar region, local officials said, while a second fire was reported on the Novokuibyshevsk refinery within the Samara region.
Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks in an try to weaken Russia’s war economy, causing gas stations in some Russian regions to run dry and costs to spike.
Russia strikes central Kyiv
Russia launched decoy drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, said Tkachenko.
At the very least 20 locations across seven districts of Kyiv had impacts. Nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a shopping center in the town center, and 1000’s of windows were shattered, he said.
Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralized 563 drones and decoys and 26 missiles across the country, its Air Force said.
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Ukraine has ramped up domestic arms production to fight Russia’s invasion. Many weapons factories operate covertly, with some embedded in civilian areas with superior air defenses. Indiscriminate Russian attacks claiming to focus on Ukraine’s defense industry have killed many civilians.
Russian strikes hit the central a part of Kyiv, one in every of the few times Russian attacks have reached the center of the Ukrainian capital because the start of the full-scale invasion. Residents cleared shattered glass and debris from damaged buildings.
Sophia Akylina said her home was damaged.
“It’s never happened before that they attacked so close,” the 21-year old said. “Negotiations haven’t yielded anything yet, unfortunately persons are suffering.”
Damage to EU delegation constructing
Also damaged was the European Union delegation constructing in Kyiv and the British Council constructing. Staff weren’t harmed, EU President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The European Commission said it is going to summon Russia’s envoy to the European Union consequently of the attack that damaged the bloc’s diplomatic compound in Kyiv.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said in a post on X on Thursday that she would summon Russia’s envoy to the 27-nation bloc.
“No diplomatic mission should ever be a goal. In response, we’re summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels,” Kallas wrote.
Following the strike on the EU’s constructing, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot posted a message on X calling for an end to the attacks.
“This must stop. We are going to increase pressure to place an end to this massacre,” he wrote.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the newest attack in his own X post.
″629 missiles and drones in a single night on Ukraine: that is Russia’s desire for peace. Terror and barbarism,” Macron wrote.
Bodies pulled from rubble
Smoke billowed from the crumbled column of a five-story residential constructing within the Darnytskyi district, which suffered a direct hit. An acrid stench of burning material wafted within the air as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.
Emergency responders looked for survivors and pulled bodies from the destruction. Crowds of residents stood nearby waiting for relatives to retrieved from the rubble, including a person who was waiting for details about his wife and son. Bodies in black bags were placed to the side of the constructing.
At the very least 10 people were known to be missing by the afternoon, based on Ukraine’s Emergency Service.
It was not the primary time the district was targeted, neighborhood residents said.
Oleksandr Khilko arrived on the scene after a missile hit the residential constructing where his sister lives. He heard screams from individuals who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors, including a boy.
“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” he said, his clothes covered in dust and the ideas of his fingers black with soot. “With every cell of my body I need this war to finish as soon as possible. I wait, but each time the air raid alarm sounds, I’m afraid.”
Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported damage to its infrastructure within the Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, causing delays and requiring trains to make use of alternative routes.
Diplomatic efforts stalled
Thursday’s attack is the primary major combined Russian mass drone and missile attack to strike Kyiv since U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month to debate ending the war in Ukraine.
While a diplomatic push to finish the war appeared to achieve momentum shortly after that meeting, few details have emerged concerning the next steps.
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian military leaders conceded Russian forces have broken into an eighth region of Ukraine looking for to capture more ground.
Zelenskyy hopes for harsher U.S. sanctions to cripple the Russian economy if Putin doesn’t reveal seriousness about ending the war. He reiterated those demands following Thursday’s attack.
“All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump bristled this week at Putin’s stalling on an American proposal for direct peace talks with Zelenskyy. Trump said Friday he expects to come to a decision on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.