Russia launched a massive combined attack on Kyiv early Friday, killing four and injuring 27. Fires erupted, and residential buildings suffered extensive damage.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that rescue workers could not yet recover two bodies from the rubble. Officials are still gathering details about the victims.
Emergency crews treated at least 27 people injured by multiple strikes. Nine of them, including a pregnant woman, required hospitalization. Among the injured were two children aged 7 and 10.
Zelenskyy Details the Scale
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “deliberately calculated” to inflict maximum harm on civilians and infrastructure. He reported that Russia used 430 drones and 18 missiles, including ballistic and aeroballistic types.
At least 11 multi-storey residential buildings across several districts suffered damage. In the Shevchenkivskyi and Holosiivskyi districts, falling debris ignited fires near a medical facility and inside a nonresidential building.
Officials urged residents to stay in shelters until authorities lifted air raid alerts. City authorities warned that power and water disruptions could occur.
Wider Impacts and Military Context
Russian strikes damaged homes and critical infrastructure across surrounding regions, injuring at least six people. A 55-year-old man in Bila Tserkva suffered severe burns and required hospitalization.
Strikes occurred in other parts of Ukraine as well, amid Russian advances in the south. Ukrainian forces retreated from several villages in Zaporizhzhia following heavy fighting.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported capturing nine settlements in Donetsk, eight in Zaporizhzhia, seven in Dnipropetrovsk, and five in Kharkiv over the past four weeks.
Analysts note that Russia’s war of attrition has been costly, yielding only incremental gains. The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russia’s siege of Pokrovsk has advanced slowly because military commanders spread forces too thinly.
