Heavy Russian Air Strike Kills At Least 10 In Kyiv

A deadly barrage of missiles and drones launched by Russia has left no fewer than 10 people dead in Kyiv and nearby regions, according to authorities.

Officials confirmed that multiple residential zones across the capital were struck in the early hours of Monday. This marks the second major night-time offensive in just one week, hinting that Moscow may be seeking to escalate tensions as the global spotlight focuses on the US decision to back Israel’s expanding air operations against Iran.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia deployed 352 drones and decoys, along with 11 ballistic missiles and five cruise missiles in this latest assault. The country’s air defence systems successfully intercepted or disrupted most of these weapons before they could reach their intended targets.

“Another massive attack on the capital. Possibly, several waves of enemy drones,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said in a statement.

“The Russians’ style is unchanged to hit where there may be people,” Tkachenko said on Telegram. “Residential buildings, exits from shelters – this is the Russian style.”

Emergency responders revealed that the strikes also damaged hospitals, sports facilities, and the entrance to an underground metro station that was being used as a shelter during the attack.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on Telegram that at least 10 people were injured and that damage was recorded in six out of Kyiv’s 10 administrative districts.

Several fatalities occurred in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, where an entire stairwell of a multi-storey apartment block collapsed.

Several people “were killed in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district, where the entire entrance of a residential high-rise building was destroyed,” Klymenko said. “There are still people under the rubble.”

A separate drone strike in the Chernihiv region late Sunday resulted in two deaths and left 10 others hurt, including three children, according to local reports.

Another fatality was confirmed in Bila Tserkva, a city located about 85 kilometres southwest of Kyiv, where eight additional people sustained injuries.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said preliminary evidence suggests that Russian forces may have employed missiles supplied by North Korea during the Kyiv assault.

He labelled the alliance between Russia, North Korea, and Iran, a country providing drones to Moscow as a “coalition of murderers,” warning that such cooperation could expand the reach of their “terror.”

Russia’s military, however, claimed later on Monday that the overnight attacks were specifically aimed at military-industrial facilities around Kyiv.

Both nations continue to deny purposely attacking civilian populations since the conflict began in February 2022, even though thousands of non-combatants mainly Ukrainians have lost their lives.

Just last week, Kyiv suffered its most lethal air raid yet, with Russian forces reportedly launching hundreds of drones that killed 28 people, injured over 150, and hit nearly 30 locations in waves of strikes.

Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Syrskii declared that, in response to these increased assaults on the capital, Ukraine would step up its offensive against Russian military sites.

“We will not just sit in defence. Because this brings nothing and eventually leads to the fact that we still retreat, lose people and territories,” he said.

To counter this pressure, Ukraine “will increase the scale and depth” of its operations targeting Russian forces, he added.

According to Ukraine’s air force, Russian troops launched no fewer than 47 drones and fired three missiles across the country overnight Sunday.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of intentionally derailing peace negotiations talks that have been backed by US President Donald Trump in order to prolong its military campaign and claim more land.