Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine in recent months, striking Kyiv and multiple cities with missiles and drones in an overnight barrage that killed at least 18 people, including four children. Ukrainian officials said the strikes damaged offices of the European Union and the British Council in the capital, prompting Brussels and London to summon Russian envoys in protest.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called the hours-long barrage "one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months," noting that at least 38 people were wounded as explosions rocked every district. Rescue workers dug through the wreckage of a five-story apartment block on the city's left bank, pulling bodies from the rubble at dawn.
"Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X, urging Western allies to impose a new round of sanctions on Moscow. The Kremlin, while insisting its missiles targeted military and industrial facilities, reiterated it remained "interested" in peace talks.
European leaders condemned the strikes as a direct affront to international diplomacy. "This is another grim reminder of what is at stake. It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorize Ukraine, blindly killing civilians and even targeting the European Union," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels. She confirmed two missiles struck within 20 seconds near the EU's mission in Kyiv and pledged a 19th sanctions package, along with measures to tap frozen Russian assets.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the attack damaged the British Council building in Kyiv. "Putin is killing children and civilians and sabotaging hopes of peace," Starmer wrote on X.
Ukraine's military said Russian forces launched nearly 600 drones and 31 missiles, with air defenses intercepting 563 drones and 26 missiles. Still, critical infrastructure was hit. In the central Vinnytsia region, a strike left 60,000 residents without power after damaging a railway hub. Ukrenergo, the national grid operator, warned of more outages as winter approaches.
The overnight barrage coincided with Russian claims of defensive successes. Moscow said its forces shot down 102 Ukrainian drones across seven regions and used an unmanned speedboat to sink a Ukrainian reconnaissance craft on the Danube River, killing at least one person. Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said several others were wounded or missing.
Ukraine's drone force claimed retaliatory strikes on Russia's Afipsky and Kuybyshevskyi oil refineries. "The Danube ports are critically important for Ukraine, serving as an alternative to the Black Sea ports through which fuel and other critical cargoes are imported," Pletenchuk said.
