Ukraine reported Thursday that at least fifteen people were tragically killed and more than 140 others were injured following overnight Russian airstrikes that pounded the capital city of Kyiv.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine confirmed that the grim death toll includes one child, with 14 children among the 145 total people who sustained injuries during the brutal assault.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, stated on Telegram that the extensive overnight attack damaged over 100 vital infrastructure objects throughout the city.
Damaged buildings included numerous residential homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities, and a major university, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
More than 300 dedicated personnel are actively engaged in the ongoing search and rescue efforts, with assistance from the interior and emergency service ministers.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also confirmed on X that the destructive attack had specifically targeted and damaged the city’s important Islamic Cultural Centre.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy powerfully argued that a lasting “peace without strength is impossible,” noting the strikes also ravaged the Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions.
He expressed his expectation that all tools voiced by America and Europe to compel Moscow toward a real negotiating table will now be fully implemented to achieve this vital goal.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that air defenses shot down 288 of the 309 drones launched by Russia, along with three of eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight.
The Air Force statement also detailed that direct hits from five missiles and 21 drones were recorded across the country, with one missile striking a residential building in Kyiv.
For its part, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have carried out a coordinated strike on enterprises of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and other key targets.
