As Trump presses Ukraine to accept deal with Moscow, Russia pounds Kyiv with deadliest attack since children’s hospital strike
Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv on Wednesday night. The most severe damage occurred in the city’s Sviatoshynskyi district, where a residential building was struck. Debris from downed drones also fell in the Holosiivskyi, Podilskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi districts, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Eight people were killed in the attack, according to preliminary reports. Initial figures had put the toll at ten, but authorities later revised the number. Another 88 people sought medical assistance, with 31 hospitalized, according to Klitschko. He said that five children were among the injured. Emergency crews continue to clear rubble and carry out search and rescue operations in the Sviatoshynskyi district. In total, 12 buildings across Kyiv were damaged.
A Kyiv resident named Lyudmyla told Suspilne that her 84-year-old mother was among those killed. She described her as “old, but strong” and said her mother “had no intention of dying.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled part of his trip to South Africa and announced he would return to Ukraine immediately after meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa. “It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes. This was a proposal from the United States. And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evading tough pressure and accountability for its actions,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Ukrainian forces intercepted at least 70 missiles overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. The attack involved 37 Kh-101 cruise missiles, 11 Iskander-M and KN-23 ballistic missiles, 12 Kalibr cruise missiles, six Iskander-K cruise missiles, four Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air-launched missiles, and 145 attack drones.
This was Moscow's deadliest attack on Kyiv since July 2024, when a Russian missile struck the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. That day, 33 people were killed in the capital, and another child later died from injuries in the hospital, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
