Russian strikes kill 17 in Kyiv
Photo: REUTERS
Russian airstrikes killed 17 people and wounded more than 40 others across Kyiv, Ukraine and its surrounding region on Thursday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared that the failure of Ukraine’s allies to supply fresh air defense missiles directly costs human lives. According to the Ukrainian air force, Moscow launched a massive overnight assault involving 168 drones along with dozens of cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles.
Although the air force reported downing nearly 90 percent of the drones and the majority of the cruise missiles, officials did not clarify if they intercepted any of the highly destructive ballistic missiles. Military officials explained that revealing such interception details only gives Russia a reason to celebrate.
Zelenskyy labeled Thursday’s barrage one of the most “cynical, calculated, and large-scale” strikes of the four-and-a-half-year conflict. In the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the strikes demolished the upper levels of a nine-story apartment building, killing at least eight individuals and prompting him to declare Friday a day of mourning.
Outside the ruined residential structure, an elderly woman wept bitterly as emergency workers carried away her grandson’s body. She remained weeping next to his corpse on the ground until medical personnel arrived to assist her.
According to Zelenskyy, the barrage damaged a total of 30 residential buildings, a school, a children’s hospital, and a kindergarten across Kyiv and its suburbs. Conversely, the Russian defense ministry asserted that its forces used airstrikes and drones to hit designated targets in the Kyiv region, including military warehouses, a logistics center, and facilities that manufacture drone components.
As Moscow has intensified its ballistic missile strikes over recent months, Zelenskyy has repeatedly begged international partners to send more Patriot interceptors - the sole weapon system in the Ukrainian arsenal capable of neutralizing ballistic missiles.
“Each additional missile saves the lives of our people,” Zelenskyy posted on the Telegram app, while pointing out that Ukraine has still not received the replacement interceptors. He lamented that, “Unfortunately ... the world’s response to such attacks is not always adequate.”
Moreover, Zelenskyy cautioned that Moscow will refuse to enter serious peace negotiations as long as Ukraine lacks the missile defense systems necessary to safeguard its cities. Meanwhile, US-mediated peace talks ground to a halt earlier this year because Kyiv refused to capitulate to Russian demands to surrender additional territory.
Responding to Zelenskyy’s plea on the social platform X, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that she is actively collaborating with member nations and international partners to deliver anti-ballistic weapon systems, describing the effort as “the most urgent of priorities.”
Domestically, Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi revealed that the nine-hour overnight bombardment damaged several food storage facilities and Red Cross depots near the capital. In recent weeks, grocery stores in Kyiv have occasionally run out of fresh fruits and vegetables following airstrikes on the logistics hubs of food retailers.
Isolated attacks persisted late into Thursday evening, with Russia striking critical infrastructure inside the capital for the first time in several months, according to Klitschko. The mayor warned that this strike could disrupt hot water access for residents across two Kyiv districts, offering a bleak preview of the winter bombardments that previously deprived citizens of heat and electricity for days on end.
While the capital suffered the bulk of the casualties, a regional official confirmed on Telegram that an strike also killed one person in the surrounding area.
Russian bombardment also hit a border crossing with Moldova in the Black Sea region of Odesa, where constant assaults on shipping vessels and ports have virtually frozen vital Ukrainian agricultural exports, driving up global food prices. In response, Ukraine has ramped up its own strikes inside Russia, focusing on oil refineries and logistics hubs to cripple Moscow’s war machine.
On Thursday, the Ukrainian military announced that its forces successfully struck the TANECO oil refinery in Tatarstan as well as an oil terminal located in the Krasnodar region.
The regional impact spilled over national lines when a stray drone crashed inside the territory of Romania, a NATO and European Union member, according to the Romanian defense ministry. Moldovan President Maia Sandu also confirmed that another drone landed on Moldovan soil.
Zelenskyy shared that Ukraine has presented peace blueprints to US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Kremlin stated on Thursday that it possesses no information regarding any potential trip to Moscow by Kushner and Witkoff, who last visited the Russian capital in January but have yet to visit Kyiv.
A source familiar with the negotiations noted that officials have not yet locked in a date for the envoys’ proposed trip to Ukraine.
Source: Reuters (adapted)
