Russian missile and drone barrage hits Kyiv overnight, killing at least 11 and damaging dozens of buildings

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the attack killed 11 people in Kyiv and damaged 20 residential buildings. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, reported 54 people were injured, including two children. Mayor Klitschko said a paramedic was in extremely critical condition among the injured in the city's Shevchenkivskyi district.

Damage across the capital

The Darnytskyi district was among the hardest hit, with six levels of a nine-story building collapsing after a Russian strike and another five-story residential building damaged, according to Klitschko. The Emergency Service said a 16-story building and private residences were also damaged in the same district. In the Desnianskyi district, people were trapped inside a damaged nine-story residential building and rescuers were dispatched to the scene.

Damage extended across much of the city. Tkachenko said strikes were recorded in 30 locations, mainly residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, spanning the Obolonskyi, Podilskyi, Pecherskyi and Solomianskyi districts. The Emergency Service said a hotel and two five-story residential buildings were hit in the Shevchenkivskyi district, while a fire broke out on the roof of a 16-story building in the Holosiivskyi district. In the Sviatoshynskyi district, fires broke out in two private residences, with debris trapping people in one of them.

Residents take shelter underground

Beyond the capital, Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Regional Administration, said damage occurred in five regional districts, with three people injured in the Bucha district. The attack followed days of escalating tempo: Russia has intensified its strikes on Kyiv in recent weeks, part of a broader pattern of missile and drone waves that have characterized the more than four-year-long invasion.

Ukraine pleads for air defenses

Many Kyiv residents took shelter at metro stations after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other authorities issued the first warnings of the incoming strike. AFP journalists saw residents, some with children and pets, rushing into the underground stations to wait out the assault. Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters during what he called the "furious enemy attack."

Zelenskyy cut short a visit to Dublin on Wednesday, citing intelligence reports of an impending Russian strike. He warned that Moscow was preparing a "massive attack," and Ukraine's air force issued alerts that ballistic missiles were headed toward Kyiv.

Context of a longer war

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on Ukraine's allies to strengthen the country's air defenses following what he described as a 'night of horror' in Kyiv. Writing on X, Sybiha said the death toll may rise as rescue teams continued their work, and he urged partners not to delay decisions on supplying air defense systems and missiles. He rejected any attempts to justify Russian strikes as retaliation for Ukraine's long-range attacks, saying Ukraine was exercising its right to self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter while Russia remained the aggressor.

The overnight barrage came against the backdrop of Ukraine's own long-range drone campaign against Russian military sites and energy facilities, which Ukrainian officials say has caused fuel shortages and disrupted supply lines inside Russia. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has become Europe's deadliest since World War II, and Russian missile and drone strikes have repeatedly hit Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, throughout the war.