A two-year-old child was found dead beneath the rubble following Thursday’s massive Russian drone and missile strike on Kyiv, raising the death toll to 28 and leaving over 150 wounded, Ukraine’s prime minister said on Friday.
The toddler was the third child to have died in the attack, in which Russia launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles in the early hours of Thursday morning. The other two underage victims were six and 17 years old, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said.
The rescue service said 16 of the injured were children, the largest number of children hurt in a single attack on Ukraine’s capital since Russia started its full-scale invasion almost 3-1/2 years ago.
City authorities declared Friday a day of mourning as rescue operations continued.
“This morning, the body of a 2-year-old child was pulled from the rubble, bringing the total dead to 28, of which 3 are children,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X, adding that over 150 people had been wounded.
“The world possesses every instrument required to ensure Russia is brought to justice. What is lacking is not power — but will,” Svyrydenko said.
Military Sites Targeted
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it targeted and hit Ukrainian military airfields and ammunition depots as well as businesses linked to what it called Kyiv’s military-industrial complex.
Explosions rocked Kyiv from about midnight onward and blazes lit up the night sky.
Yurii Kravchuk, 62, stood wrapped in a blanket next to a damaged building with a bandage around his head. He had heard the missile alert but did not get to a shelter in time, he said.
“I started waking up my wife, and then there was an explosion. My daughter ended up in the hospital,” he said.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up air strikes in recent months on Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines of the war.
Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow invaded in 2022.
Kyiv and Moscow have held three rounds of talks in Istanbul this year that yielded exchanges of prisoners and bodies, but no breakthrough to defuse the conflict.
Trump Criticises Russia’s ‘Disgusting’ Behaviour
U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, sharply criticised Russia’s “disgusting” behaviour against Ukraine and said he planned to impose sanctions on Moscow if no agreement could be reached.
Trump said he was not sure whether sanctions would deter Russia. He has given Russian President Vladimir Putin until August 8 to make a deal or else he will respond with economic pressure.
Trump said U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Russia after his current trip to Israel.
A senior U.S. diplomat, John Kelly, told the United Nations Security Council that Trump had made clear that he wants a deal to end the war by August 8.
On Tuesday, Trump said Washington will start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia if Moscow shows no progress toward ending the conflict.
(With inputs from Reuters)
