KYIV: At least 16 people, including a 12-year-old child, were killed and dozens injured in Russian drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, officials said on Thursday.
Fires raged across parts of the capital overnight, sending thick black smoke into the sky as emergency crews battled multiple blazes. By morning, residents and rescue workers were clearing debris from heavily damaged buildings.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people, including a child, were killed in the العاصمة, while prosecutors reported at least 54 injured.
In the southern city of Odesa, nine people were killed and 23 injured after a high-rise residential building was struck. Two more fatalities were reported in Dnipro, where residential areas were set ablaze.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks left around 100 people wounded overall and called for increased international pressure on Russia.
“There can be no normalisation of Russia as it is today. Pressure must work,” he said, urging timely delivery of support and sanctions.
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted or neutralised 31 missiles and 636 drones, though several still struck targets over a 24-hour period.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said rescue operations were ongoing and the death toll could rise, while Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on the international community to act swiftly.
Another drone attack struck Kyiv early Thursday, with one drone hitting an 18-storey building. Emergency teams rescued a mother and child from a damaged structure, while missile debris hit residential areas, including the Podil district.
Elsewhere, officials said infrastructure and port facilities were damaged in Odesa, while additional casualties were reported in surrounding regions of Dnipro. In Kharkiv, two people were injured in separate drone strikes.
The latest wave of attacks marks a continued escalation in the conflict, with widespread destruction and mounting civilian casualties across multiple Ukrainian cities.
