Russian ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding Kyiv region killed at least nine people and wounded 33, Ukrainian officials said. The attacks struck Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts early on Thursday, damaging residential buildings, a children’s hospital and warehouses.
The strikes came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy faced domestic pressure over elections and Ukraine’s recent change of defence minister. Elections remain suspended under wartime law while martial law is in effect.
Damage and casualties in Kyiv
Ukraine’s Emergency Services said eight people were killed and 33 wounded in what it described as a massive attack on the capital. Fires broke out in residential buildings and warehouses, and rescuers pulled at least two people from the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a nine-storey residential building in Solomianskyi district collapsed and caught fire. A children’s hospital there had shattered windows, while cars burned on its grounds. Parts of Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts lost electricity, and people were reported trapped in another residential building.
Related coverage: Kyiv court detains organiser of weapons expo hit by Russian missile attack.
Deaths and military responses beyond the capital
In Brovary district in the wider Kyiv region, one person was killed and another wounded, Governor Tymur Tkachenko said. An industrial facility was damaged, and emergency services worked to extinguish a fire.
Poland said it mobilised aircraft and activated air defences to protect its airspace, particularly near Ukraine. Romania reported aerial targets near the Ukrainian border, scrambled two Spanish jets assigned to NATO missions and deployed a Romanian military helicopter after a drone entered Romanian airspace before crashing in an unpopulated area of Tulcea county.
A new defence minister amid election debate
Ukraine’s parliament confirmed Yevhenii Khmara as defence minister a day before the strikes, approving his appointment by 312 votes to two. Khmara is a career intelligence official and former head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s Alpha special operations unit.
More context: How Russia’s missile attacks are deepening Ukraine’s air-defence crisis.
Khmara replaces Mykhailo Fedorov, who was removed in July after a public rupture with armed forces commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi. Fedorov later called for Ukraine to move towards elections, describing the country as facing a systemic governance crisis. Dozens of people rallied in Kyiv in support of that call, although demonstrators also expressed doubt that a vote could be held while the war continues.
Ukrainian law bars elections during wartime. Zelenskyy’s presidential term ended in May 2024, but the presidential election has been postponed while martial law remains in force.
Also read: Kyiv reports fires after early-morning missile attack.
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