According to Ukrainian emergency services, one person was killed and at least 16 others injured in Kyiv, while a further 16 people died and 29 were injured across the wider Kyiv region, bringing the death toll to at least 17.
17 people were killed and dozens more injured after Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s capital and surrounding region overnight, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to renew calls for stronger air defences.
The overnight assault, which began shortly after midnight on Wednesday, was one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region this year. Residential buildings, a railway station, and warehouses were among the sites hit, while emergency crews continued to battle fires and search for possible survivors trapped beneath the rubble.
Zelensky said the tragedy underscored Ukraine’s urgent need for more advanced air defence systems, arguing that additional missile interceptors could have prevented the loss of life.
“Interceptors could have saved lives,” the Ukrainian president said, adding that delays in the delivery of anti-ballistic air defence systems
Ukraine has repeatedly appealed to its Western allies for more US-made Patriot missile systems and interceptors to defend against Russia’s increasingly frequent ballistic missile attacks.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired 24 ballistic missiles and four anti-ship missiles during the overnight bombardment, alongside 115 drones. Air defence units intercepted 98 of the drones, but Ukraine did not report shooting down any of the ballistic missiles.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned that rescue teams feared more people could still be trapped beneath collapsed buildings as search-and-rescue operations continued.
Ukraine’s emergency services said firefighters were still working to extinguish blazes at five locations across the Kyiv region, with the fires covering an estimated 230,000 square metres.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence confirmed carrying out the strikes, saying its forces targeted logistics hubs and supply centres in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
In a statement, the ministry claimed the facilities were being used to store and distribute weapons, military supplies and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Moscow also said it had struck three cargo vessels near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, alleging they were transporting weapons and military equipment.
The latest attack comes amid an escalation in cross-border strikes by both sides.
Russian authorities said a Ukrainian drone crashed into a warehouse belonging to e-commerce company Wildberries in the Tula region overnight, sparking a fire and injuring one person. The company said the facility had been evacuated before the impact.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted warehouses and infrastructure inside Russia. Earlier this week, Russian officials reported that five people were killed and 10 others wounded in drone attacks on warehouses in the Moscow region. A day earlier, authorities also said seven people were killed and 58 injured after a drone struck a crowded beach in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine condemned the circulation of a video that appeared to show a man being pursued by a drone in the occupied Kherson region, describing it as evidence of a deliberate “hunt” and “safari” targeting civilians.
Both Russia and Ukraine continue to deny deliberately attacking civilians.
As the fighting intensified, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union had received €1.4 billion from immobilised Russian assets, saying the funds would be used to support Ukraine in its ongoing defence against Russia.