At least six people have been killed in Kyiv in a Russian drone and missile barrage that followed President Trump’s new ultimatum to Moscow.
A six-year-old boy was among those who died when a Russian missile hit a nine-storey block of flats in the west of the city. Three other people in the building were also killed and ten are thought to be trapped beneath the rubble.
Smoke was still rising from the shattered building as rescue workers tried desperately to reach residents buried underneath the remains of their homes. The body of one woman, still in her pyjamas, was recovered as the rescue efforts continued, Ukraine’s United24 media outlet said.
Kyiv residents are rescued from their wrecked properties
THOMAS PETER/REUTERS
Olena, a pensioner who lives in a neighbouring building, said: “The blast was so powerful that I was thrown off my bed.”
Another local said: “The whole world needs to see this. This isn’t a military object. These are civilians, just children for God’s sake.”
Dmytro, a soldier, was at home with his wife and two small children when the missile hit the neighbouring building. “Our windows shattered and the door blew in,” he said. He is due back at the front next week. Yana, his wife, said glass had flown into their five-month-old baby’s cot, but he was unhurt.
Schools and hospitals were also damaged in the attack, officials said. The sound of explosions and air defence guns echoed throughout the city from just before 11pm local time until early in the morning and the night sky was illuminated by bright flashes.
An explosion lights up the sky in Kyiv
GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS
Russia launched more than 300 drones and eight cruise missiles at Ukraine overnight, with the focus of the attack on Kyiv, military officials said.
President Zelensky described the attack as Russian “showcase killings” intended to show that Moscow has no interest in ending the war. “Today, the world once again saw Russia’s response to our desire for peace, shared with America and Europe. New, showcase killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible,” he wrote on social media.
He urged allies to “change the regime in Russia”, while insisting it was time to “seize Russian assets… and use them for peace, not war”.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said nine children were among the injured, a figure he added was the highest for a single attack on the city since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. At least 2,900 children have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the start of the war, according to the United Nations. It said the true figure was likely to be significantly higher.
Rescuers carry out a body after an apartment building was hit by Russian strikes
THOMAS PETER/REUTERS
The strikes came after the Kremlin shrugged off Trump’s threat to impose fresh sanctions against Moscow if President Putin did not agree to a ceasefire in ten days.
“Ten days from today,” Trump said on Tuesday as he left Scotland. “Then we’ll put on tariffs and other things. I don’t know if it’s going to affect Russia, because he [Putin] probably wants to keep the war going. But we’ll do it.”
• Zelensky aide: Trump can end Ukraine war with oil and gas sanctions
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said that Russia had been “living under a huge number of sanctions for quite a long time,” and the country’s economy had “acquired immunity”.
Trump has warned he will impose 100 per cent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas unless Moscow halts its attacks. The move would hit China and India, whose purchases of Russian energy have provided Russia with an economic lifeline in the face of waves of western sanctions.
“We need more air defences from our friends in the West,” said Lyuba, a pensioner, at a playground close to the ruins of the flats, as a group of small children played on nearby swings, their laughter incongruous amid the destruction.
When asked if she thought Trump’s threats would force Putin to end the war, Lyuba sighed. “God knows I’d like that. But Russia has no brains. I’m terrified for our kids.”
After the overnight strikes on Kyiv, Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister, called for “maximum pressure” on Putin. “[Putin] does not care about any attempts to put an end to the killing. He only seeks to destroy and kill … It’s time to make him feel the pain and consequences of his choices. It’s time to put maximum pressure on Moscow,” he said.