Russia bombards Kyiv in one of war's biggest strikes, at least 21 people killed

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine's capital Kyiv in the early hours on Thursday, killing at least 21 people, wounding scores more and damaging around 130 buildings ​in one of the biggest attacks of the war.

Multiple explosions shook central Kyiv and reverberated across the capital throughout the night as thousands of residents rushed to bomb shelters and underground metro ‌stations. Huge columns of smoke filled the skyline.

The attack was the deadliest in Kyiv since at least May, and the wide spread destruction across the breadth of the capital had little precedent even in a war now in its fifth year.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who cut short his visit to Ireland and rushed home, visited a site on the city's left bank where a nine-storey residential building was half destroyed. He blamed the destruction in part on a failure of allies to deliver promised air defenses.

"If our partners had ​delivered on their promises in a timely manner, I think we could have saved more homes and lives today," said Zelenskiy, who looked tired and frustrated. "All we ask of our partners is simply to ​do what we've agreed on. We're not even asking for more."

Later, in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said emergency crews were still sifting through rubble searching for ⁠survivors.

The issue of air defences would be "one of the key outcomes" of next week's NATO summit in Turkey, he added as he repeated his call for the development of European air defences.

"If, of course, NATO still means ​anything to the allies," he said. "Europe must have its own sufficient capability to defend against all types of threats, including this one – from Russian ballistic missiles." He said the death count currently stood at 21.

Russia launched 74 missiles ​and 496 drones overnight, the Ukrainian air force said. Yuri Ihnat, the Air Force spokesperson, said the number of ballistic missiles was unusually high and the interception rate was low. Ukraine has struggled with shortages of Patriot missiles in recent months.

The Russian Defence Ministry, in a Telegram post, said its "massive attack" using long-range, high-precision air-, land- and sea-launched weapons and drones hit military and energy facilities, as well as airports in Kyiv and other locations.

Moscow said the attacks were retaliation for Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia. Kyiv, which has stepped up ​strikes in recent weeks on Russia's domestic fuel supply, said it had hit an oil refinery overnight in the Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod, where the governor reported one person killed in a strike on an industrial ​facility.

The Kremlin said Russian military commanders had briefed President Vladimir Putin about the Russian attacks, adding that Moscow would increase pressure to achieve its war aims.

Day of mourning announced in Kyiv

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced a day of mourning in Kyiv for Friday. ‌He said that ⁠damage was recorded across the city of about 3 million, with some buildings heavily damaged.

Katarina Mathernova, the EU ambassador to Ukraine, said that "Russia unleashed hell on Kyiv" overnight, and had struck accommodation used by diplomatic personnel. Diplomats were unharmed, but their belongings were damaged in the fire that engulfed the building, she said.

City officials said that more than 90 people, including children, paramedics and drivers at an ambulance station, were wounded and that some people were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.

"Our house is on fire. Oleg was pulling our neighbour out of the burning house, while I was phoning all the emergency services during the explosions," Kyiv resident Iryna Plekhova said on Facebook, posting a picture of ​a half-destroyed apartment building. "We do not have an apartment ​anymore."

The National Institute of Biochemistry was among many ⁠buildings damaged: its state-of-the-art biochemistry laboratory and other offices were gutted during the attack.

"This is a catastrophe for medical and biological science of Ukraine," biologist Yurii Danylovych told Reuters.

Ukraine's neighbour Poland, a NATO and EU member, briefly scrambled fighter jets as a preventive measure. Finland also briefly issued a temporary aviation restriction zone in the eastern Gulf of ​Finland, its defence forces said.

More pressure on Russia needed

After years of enduring relentless long-range attacks from Russia, Ukraine has intensified its own strikes deep into Russian territory, mainly on ​energy targets. That has triggered a fuel crisis ⁠in Russia, forcing the world's third-biggest oil producer to import gasoline from as far away as India.

Russia has responded with a stepped-up air campaign against Ukrainian cities, last month hitting a thousand-year-old Kyiv cathedral foundational to the Orthodox faith in both countries.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said only sustained military support for Ukraine and increased pressure on Moscow could help stop Russian attacks.

"Today, I will propose to sanction more entities supporting Russia's military-industrial complex in response to the strikes," she said ⁠in a post ​on X. "The more Moscow attacks civilians, the more sanctions must be imposed."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the overnight attacks, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric ​said, describing them as part of a "deadly pattern" of strikes on densely populated areas in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy has proposed peace talks with Putin, which the Kremlin leader has rejected. Zelenskiy said that Ukrainian and US negotiators held talks in the past two days, and that he hoped to meet ​US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

Additional reporting by Jekaterina Golubkova, Anna Pruchnicka, Anna Voitenko and Yuliia Dysa and by Andrea Shalal in Washington Editing by Daniel Flynn, Peter Graff, Ron Popeski and Andrew Heavens