Russia unleashes massive attacks on Ukraine; 7 killed

Russia on Thursday unleashed a third straight day of massive drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, demolishing an apartment building in Kyiv where seven people were killed and dozens injured, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. More strikes elsewhere in the country wounded more than two dozen civilians.

As dawn broke on a clear day in Kyiv, a scene of devastation came into focus in the capital’s leafy Darnytsia neighbourhood, located between a suburban forest and the Dnieper River. Wisps of smoke rose from the collapsed nine-storey apartment block, where emergency workers dug under concrete slabs and took people away on stretchers. The building’s entrance was smashed in the strike, preventing residents from escaping.

All 18 apartments in the building were destroyed, officials said. Among the dead was a 12-year-old girl, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Zelenskyy said seven people were killed, with at least 20 people believed to be missing. Klitschko declared Friday to be a day of mourning for the victims.

Ukrainian officials noted that the attack coincided with US President Donald Trump’s trip to China. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have sufficient leverage to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

“At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine,” Sybiha wrote on X. “Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop,” Sybiha said of Putin.

Russia fired ballistic and cruise missiles in the attack, Zelenskyy said, adding that Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centres since Wednesday.

In all, some 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings, he said.

British Defence Secretary John Healey called Thursday’s attack “shocking” and said he had accelerated UK deliveries of air defences.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the military aimed at Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, including air bases and fuel and transport facilities, claiming it hit all its targets. Among the weapons deployed, it said, were Kinzhal ballistic missiles, which Russian says can fly 10 times faster than the speed of sound.

Russia has hammered Ukraine with large-scale aerial attacks following a May 9-11 ceasefire that Trump said he asked Zelenskyy and Putin to heed. Fighting continued over those 72 hours, although reportedly at a reduced intensity.

The attacks undercut recent suggestions from Trump and Putin that the war, which began with Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbour in 2022, is nearing its end.

More than 30 people were injured in the apartment building collapse, while emergency workers rescued 28 residents, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

In neighbouring blocks, windows had shattered from the blast wave.

Lyudmila Hlushko, 78, said she heard explosions and the sound of rockets about 3 am. “Then the house shook violently and there was a loud bang, breaking the glass in my house,” she said.

Another resident, Nadiia Lobanova, said “it was a terrible night.”

“We’re used to this. Well, it’s impossible to get used to this, but somehow we held on,” she added.

Damage was recorded across six districts of the capital, according to head of Kyiv’s Military Administration Tymur Tkachenko.

The Kyiv office of defence contractor Skyeton, specialising in reconnaissance drones, was destroyed in the overnight attack, although the company said it had anticipated such a development and had relocated its production.

Russia’s biggest attacks since its full-scale invasion

The Ukrainian cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa also were bombarded, officials said.

“We are now experiencing the largest strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion,” air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.

Ukraine’s air defence forces are under severe strain, he said. Even so, the interception rate of drones and missiles was over 93 per cent, Zelenskyy said.

Air defences shot down or jammed 693 Russian targets overnight, including 41 missiles and 652 drones of various types nationwide, the air force said.

Fifteen missiles and 23 drones scored direct hits across 24 locations, it said. Debris from downed drones fell in another 18 locations.

Strikes on energy infrastructure left customers in Kyiv and 11 other regions temporarily without power, national grid operator Ukrenergo said.

On Wednesday, a rare daytime attack on Kyiv killed at least six people, Zelenskyy said. That assault, which involved 800 drones, struck about 20 regions and was among the longest such attacks of the war.