Russia carried out a large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital early Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 31, local officials said.
Ukrainian authorities said the strikes hit residential areas and civilian infrastructure across multiple cities, with Kyiv bearing the heaviest damage.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said six districts in the capital were affected. He warned that Russia used a mix of ballistic missiles and drones in the attack, damaging homes and public facilities.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said several other cities, including Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa, were also targeted in the coordinated assault involving both cruise and ballistic missiles.
In Kyiv’s Darnytsia district, part of a multi-storey residential building collapsed after being hit, trapping people under debris. Emergency services said at least 27 people were pulled out alive from the rubble.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 apartments were destroyed and reported disruptions in water supply on the city’s left bank following the strikes.
Rescue teams continued searching through debris as smoke rose from damaged buildings. Emergency workers said operations were also ongoing in Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
Residents described hearing repeated explosions during the early hours of the morning.
“I heard many blasts and rockets around 3 a.m. Then the building shook and there was a loud explosion, and all my windows shattered,” said 78-year-old resident Lyudmila Hlushko.
In another incident, a drone struck the roof of a five-storey residential building in the Dnieper district, while a separate building in the Dniprovskyi district was also damaged, officials said.
The overnight attack came just hours after another major daytime strike on Kyiv that killed at least six people, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That earlier assault involved around 800 drones and hit nearly 20 regions across Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the sustained attacks were aimed at causing “maximum pain and suffering” to civilians.
The escalation comes amid renewed talk of possible peace efforts. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he believes Russia and Ukraine could soon reach a deal to end the war, while Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested the conflict may be “coming to an end.”
However, neither side has outlined any concrete progress, and both continue to hold sharply different demands. Previous diplomatic efforts led by the United States have stalled over key issues, including territorial control and long-term security guarantees.