At least 12 people have been killed and 20 others injured, including two children, after overnight Russian missile and drone strikes hit Kyiv and surrounding areas, Ukrainian officials say.
The attacks sparked fires across three districts of the Ukrainian capital, while a railway depot operated by state-owned Ukrzaliznytsia was also hit. Six of those killed were railway workers.
Russia said its “massive strike using high-precision weapons” targeted Ukrainian military and energy infrastructure. Moscow also reported that one person was killed in Ukrainian strikes in Russia’s western Belgorod region.
The latest attacks came a day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring the war to an end.
“Every day that the war continues, humanity is, in effect, set back a step, whilst every step towards peace gives all of humanity real hope for peace,” Modi was quoted as saying at a security summit in Kyrgyzstan.
Modi, whose country relies heavily on discounted Russian oil, has made several similar appeals to Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In Kyiv, eight people were killed overnight, with fires reported in three districts. Another four people died in the nearby town of Boryspil after a residential building was struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said nearly 350 rescue workers spent the night responding to the attacks across Kyiv and the surrounding region.
In a social media post, Zelensky said Russia had launched a “significant number of jet drones and ballistic missiles”during the assault.
The strikes mark the sixth consecutive day of Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities warning that the sustained bombardment appears aimed at stretching the country’s air defences and weakening civilian morale.
Russia’s military had warned over the weekend that it was preparing “massive” attacks against Ukrainian energy facilities.
Zelensky said eight other Ukrainian regions were also targeted and confirmed that an Indian national was among those killed.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivsky later identified the victim as a 26-year-old Indian man who was killed in Boryspil.
The latest strikes followed another deadly Russian attack on Friday, when 38 people were killed after a weapons depot in the Kyiv region was hit. The resulting explosions caused shells, mines and drones stored at the facility to detonate.
Meanwhile, Ukraine carried out another drone attack against Russia, hitting the major Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga and triggering a fire, according to Leningrad regional Governor Aleksandr Drozdenko.
Ust-Luga handles millions of tonnes of petroleum products each year. Ukrainian authorities have previously argued that facilities such as the port are legitimate military targets because they generate revenue that helps fund Russia’s war effort.
The continuing exchanges highlight the renewed escalation in the conflict, even as diplomatic calls for an end to the war persist.
