Russia launched its most devastating aerial assault on Kyiv in nine months early Thursday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of undermining efforts to reach a peace agreement. Ukraine's Air Force reported that 70 missiles and 145 drones were fired toward Ukraine, with the capital bearing the brunt of the barrage.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office confirmed at least eight people were killed. Emergency services said the strikes hit 13 locations across Kyiv, including residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. Initial reports placed the death toll at nine, with over 60 wounded.
This was "a particularly horrible and loud night," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a statement. The attack comes just months after a July 2024 strike on the city killed 33 people.
Ukraine's emergency services said at least 42 people were hospitalized, including six children. Engineers and rescue teams were still searching for individuals believed to be trapped under rubble in the Sviatoshyn district. "There is information about two children who still cannot be found at the scene," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. "The situation is tragic."
Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to take shelter as air raid sirens blared across the city for six hours. "We are currently clearing the rubble manually, we are not using any equipment because there may still be people under the rubble," he said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said it carried out "a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, land and sea-based weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles on enterprises of the aviation, missile and space, mechanical engineering and armored industries of Ukraine, production of rocket fuel and gunpowder." It added, "The strike objectives were achieved. All targets were hit."
Zelensky announced he was cutting short his visit to South Africa. "It is extremely important that everyone around the world sees and understands what is really happening," he said. "It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes. This was a proposal from the United States. And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evading tough pressure and accountability for its actions."
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said, "It's inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy's that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about!"
On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance told reporters in India: "We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes or for the US to walk away from this process."
Talks among Ukraine, the U.S., UK, France, and Germany were downgraded after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio withdrew. The Trump administration's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is scheduled to visit Moscow on Friday for discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian forces also struck multiple other regions including Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Poltava, Khmelnytsky, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine's Air Force said five ballistic missiles evaded its defenses.
Klymenko described it as "a massive combined Russian attack." Emergency services shared images of buildings engulfed in flames, and air raid shelters across Kyiv were packed during the prolonged bombardment.
Zelensky, responding to Trump's earlier criticism, said on X: "Emotions have run high today," referring to the collapsed diplomatic momentum and intensifying military assault.
