Russian missiles and drones struck residential buildings in and around Kyiv on Monday, killing at least 26 people and injuring more than 100, Ukrainian authorities said, as the attacks came just a day before a crucial NATO summit.
The overnight assault marked the second major Russian strike on the Ukrainian capital within a week, following another attack that killed more than 30 people, reports AFP/BSS.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned what he described as a “brutal strike”, saying Moscow’s strategy remained unchanged.
“The Russians’ tactics are unchanged: to inflict as much pain and damage as possible on Ukrainians and on Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
The strikes killed 18 people in Kyiv and another eight in Vyshneve, a town in the surrounding Kyiv region, officials said. Around 30 residential buildings in the capital were damaged, while emergency workers searched through rubble and evacuated residents.
In the northeastern city of Sumy, Russian drone attacks killed two people, according to the regional military administration. Two more people were killed in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said.
Zelensky, who is expected to meet US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in Turkey, urged allies to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence capabilities, particularly against ballistic missiles.
He said Ukraine had been able to intercept drones and cruise missiles but lacked sufficient systems to counter ballistic missile attacks.
“It is simply absurd that in the modern world, production has still not been organised to the extent that is necessary to protect people from ballistic terror,” he said.
Zelensky said Kyiv expected concrete decisions on strengthening Ukraine’s air defence at the NATO summit.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in Ankara that allies and partners “must continue to ensure Ukraine gets what it needs”.
Residential areas hit
The latest strikes caused extensive damage in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district, where a missile tore through a multi-storey apartment building, leaving a large crater and destroying several floors.
AFP reporters heard more than 10 explosions during a nighttime air raid alert, with flashes visible in the sky as missiles and drones struck the city.
Emergency workers moved through destroyed apartments, carrying victims from damaged buildings. Residents described scenes of panic and devastation.
“I felt the need to pray,” Kyiv resident Oleksandr Kolomiyets, 60, told AFP outside the damaged building.
Anna Misko, 36, who had recently returned to Ukraine, said she and her child survived “by a miracle” after moving to the ground floor of their building.
“Russia wants to destroy us,” she said, adding that “there is no place” that feels safe in Ukraine.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its “massive strike” targeted what it called military-industrial facilities, as well as fuel and energy infrastructure across several Ukrainian regions.
Kyiv resident Oleksandr Seleznyov said the latest attack showed that the war had entered “a new phase”.
“I think the Russians want to make Kyiv uninhabitable for civilians,” he said.
Authorities in Vyshneve said around 500 people were evacuated following the strikes. Zelensky described the situation there as “difficult” due to what he called a secondary detonation and called for an investigation into the incident.
Ukraine strikes Russian refinery
While Kyiv dealt with the aftermath of the Russian attacks, Ukraine’s military said it had carried out a strike on an oil refinery in Russia’s Omsk region, around 2,500 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
The attack was among Ukraine’s deepest strikes inside Russia during the nearly four-and-a-half-year war.
Zelensky said Ukrainian forces used upgraded “Fire Point” long-range drones in the operation.
“Siberia is now also within reach of Ukrainian precision,” he said.
The latest escalation came as NATO leaders prepared to discuss continued military support for Ukraine amid intensified Russian attacks and uncertainty over the future course of the conflict.
