An overnight Russian missile strike on Kyiv killed one man and injured three others, sparking fires and causing damage across several districts in what Ukraine’s officials described on Sunday as the largest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks.
The strike was the first large-scale attack using missiles and drones since the U.S. said late last month it had negotiated two ceasefire accords with Russia and Ukraine, including one that would on each other’s energy infrastructure.
Zelenskyy Slams Russia
After the Russian missile hit Kyiv, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ongoing attacks showed Russia did not want to end the three-year-old war.
“Such attacks are Putin’s response to all international diplomatic efforts. Each of our partners – America, the whole of Europe, the whole world – has seen that Russia is going to continue to fight and kill,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Therefore, there can be no easing of pressure. All efforts should be made to ensure security and bring peace,” he said.
Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, posted a video of firefighters trying to put out fires at badly damaged buildings.
Russian forces used ballistic and cruise missiles launched from both strategic bombers and naval fleets, as well as drones, during the overnight attack, Ukraine’s air force said.
Zelenskyy said that over the past week, Russia had launched more than 1,460 guided aerial bombs, nearly 670 attack drones and more than 30 missiles of various types against Ukraine.
Poland On High Alert
Warnings from the air force of an attack, including regions bordering Poland, forced the neighbouring NATO-member country to scramble aircraft to ensure air safety.
Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck the southern Polish village of Przewodow in 2022, killing two people.
In Kyiv, several loud explosions were heard overnight.
Fires broke out in at least three districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post.
“The body of a man killed in an enemy attack was found in Darnytskiy district (of Kyiv). He was on the street, near the epicentre of the explosion,” Klitschko said.
He added that two civilians had been taken to the hospital after they were injured in Darnytskiy, on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River that splits the city.
The Sunday strikes on Kyiv came after officials in the southern region of Mykolaiv reported three people had been injured in Russian strikes. A day earlier, a Russian attack killed at least 19 people, including nine children, in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour. Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who took office in January after pledging he would end the war in 24 hours, has sought to broker an end to the conflict.
(With inputs from Reuters)
