KYIV, Ukraine — Russia unleashed a massive overnight attack on the Ukrainian capital that killed at least 15 people, including four children, and injured 38, local officials said early Thursday.
The combined strikes were the most significant to hit Kyiv since President Donald Trump intensified his push for an end to the Kremlin’s war, an effort that has stalled in the past week. A total of 629 drones and missiles were fired at the country overnight, Ukraine's air force said, one of the largest of the war.
The overnight attacks show clearly that Russia has chosen “ballistics over the negotiating table,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Among the three children killed was a 2-year-old, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. Ten other minors were injured, he said in a post on Telegram.
Also damaged were the European Union delegation building and the British Council building in Kyiv. Staff were not harmed, E.U. President Ursula von der Leyen said.
Both Brussels and London summoned their Russian ambassadors.
'Like a nightmare'
The Russian strikes hit more than 20 locations across Kyiv, damaging homes and leaving about 60,000 residents without power, officials said.
Several powerful explosions were heard in the center of Kyiv, a rare occurrence in the heart of the Ukrainian capital since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Describing the attacks as “very scary,” Yaroslava Samoilenko, 39, told NBC News that she lived next door to one of the buildings that was hit and that they were hiding in a shelter when some of their neighbors started to join them, some of whom were “undressed and without shoes, just in underwear.”
“They brought small children who were simply wrapped in a blanket, and they were completely covered in dust and blood,” she said, adding that although they could hear people screaming under the rubble, she had not been able to help them.
In a separate interview, blogger Iryna Chernyuk said she was awakened by “a sound of powerful thunder” and rushed to the shelter with her dog. When she emerged, she said, she found the windows of her apartment intact but those of her neighbors blown out.
“How would it all have been if we had stayed at home?” Chernyuk, 28, added. “It’s like a nightmare.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said it had attacked military air bases and companies “within Ukraine’s military-industrial complex” using long-range weapons, including Kinzhal missiles.
“All designated objects were hit,” the ministry said in a statement Thursday.
Trump's diplomacy stalls
Zelenskyy reiterated his call for “new tough sanctions” against Russia, hoping the U.S. might target Putin's economy to force him to the table. “All deadlines have already been missed; dozens of opportunities for diplomacy have been spoiled,” he said on X.
The U.S. had expressed confidence in moving forward with a summit between Putin and Zelenskyy, but that has seemed an increasingly distant prospect as the Kremlin shows little sign of urgency or a desire to compromise on its demands.
While Trump has given the two warring sides more time, Ukraine has been pressing its own campaign targeting Russian refineries and oil infrastructure in a bid to up the pressure.
The attacks have led to prices spiking and gas stations in some Russian regions running dry.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that it had intercepted and destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions overnight, including Samara in the country's southwest where videos showed an oil refinery on fire.
The Kremlin played down the impact of Ukraine’s campaign, saying Thursday that "step-by-step measures are being taken" and that "the market is stable."
Speaking to reporters during his daily briefing, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said that while Russia was continuing its campaign against Ukraine from the air and on the ground, it "maintains its interest in continuing the negotiation process."
Russia has nonetheless intensified its attacks in recent weeks.
In July, a massive strike on Kyiv killed at least 31 people, the deadliest attack on the capital since this year.
And Ukraine acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that Russian troops had entered the eastern-central region of Dnipropetrovsk, but said they were pushed back as fighting continued near two villages.
Senior Ukrainian officials are scheduled to meet with their counterparts in New York on Friday for talks, as Kyiv seeks to iron out security guarantees its allies can offer.
Zelenskyy announced the appointment of the country’s new ambassador to the U.S. late Tuesday, former senior minister Olha Stefanishyna.
Americans are largely pessimistic about the prospects of Trump finding a way to end the war, a new poll found. Two-thirds of Americans are either very or somewhat pessimistic that a peace deal can be struck, according to the Gallup poll released Thursday.
Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv and Peter Guo from Hong Kong.
