KYIV (Reuters) – In one of the deadliest nights in recent weeks, Russian drone and missile attacks struck Kyiv and surrounding areas, killing 10 people and injuring at least 34 others, including children. A missile hit an apartment block in the busy Shevchenkivskyi district, near the U.S. Embassy, where nine people lost their lives, Ukrainian officials confirmed.
Rescue workers pulled victims from the rubble, while survivors shared harrowing stories. Valeriy Mankuta, a construction worker, said he woke up buried under bricks after his building was hit. “There were bricks on me, something in my mouth. It was total hell,” he recalled, having escaped by climbing out of a window.
The attacks damaged residential buildings, a university campus, and even the entrance to a metro bomb shelter in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district. The National Technical University, known for its aerospace technology work, reported hits on several dormitories and academic buildings. Firefighters struggled to contain blazes across six of Kyiv’s ten districts.
According to Ukraine’s emergency services, the assault left at least four children injured. From midnight until dawn, the city echoed with explosions and the sound of anti-aircraft fire. Despite the intensity, Ukraine’s air force claimed it intercepted 339 out of 352 drones and 15 out of 16 missiles.
Meanwhile, a separate missile strike in the southern city of Odesa killed three people and injured eight more. These attacks come just a day before the NATO summit in The Hague, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy currently in the UK for defense talks.
Russia has increased strikes in recent weeks as diplomatic efforts to end the war, which began in 2022, continue to stall. While Ukraine accuses Russia of targeting civilians, Moscow has not commented on the latest attacks. Last week, another massive assault on Kyiv killed 28 people and wounded over 150, marking a troubling pattern of rising aggression.