Kyiv endured a sustained, large-scale bombardment in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, with officials reporting at least 27 fatalities, dozens more injured and wide-ranging structural damage across the city.
Multiple explosions echoed through central Kyiv during the night as hundreds of residents sought shelter in underground metro stations and bomb shelters. Columns of smoke rose over the skyline as rescue crews worked through rubble-strewn streets.
The head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on Telegram that the death toll had risen to 27 after an injured person died in hospital, and that 91 people were injured. He warned earlier that the figure was likely to grow as teams continued to search for people trapped in debris. At one site in an eastern suburb on the left bank of the Dnipro River, rescue personnel recovered five bodies and listed eight residents as unaccounted for. "Rescue crews will work without interruption until all the debris is cleared," he wrote. "Unfortunately, more victims may still be found."
Local officials estimate roughly 130 buildings were damaged in the attack. The scale and geographic spread of destruction across Kyiv was described by local authorities as without precedent in the war now in its fifth year; by comparison, 24 people died in a previous strike on Kyiv in May.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who cut short a visit to Ireland and returned home, inspected a site where a nine-storey residential block was left half destroyed. He attributed part of the devastation to a failure by allies to deliver promised air defense systems, saying that timely delivery could have saved homes and lives. "If our partners had delivered on their promises in a timely manner, I think we could have saved more homes and lives today," he said, adding that Ukraine was not asking for more than agreed commitments.
In his nightly address, Zelenskiy said air defenses would be a central issue at the upcoming NATO summit in Turkey and renewed his call for development of a European air defense capability. "If, of course, NATO still means anything to the allies," he said. "Europe must have its own sufficient capability to defend against all types of threats, including this one - from Russian ballistic missiles."
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia had launched 74 missiles and 496 drones overnight. Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat said the number of ballistic missiles was unusually high and that interception rates were low. Ukraine has faced shortages of Patriot missiles in recent months, and officials noted the challenge of defending against a large, mixed attack.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a Telegram post that the "massive attack" used long-range, high-precision weapons launched from air, land and sea, along with drones, and that military and energy infrastructure as well as airports in Kyiv and other locations had been targeted. Moscow described the strikes as retaliation for Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory.
Kyiv's forces said they had struck an oil refinery in the Russian region of Nizhny Novgorod overnight. The regional governor reported one person killed in a strike on an industrial facility there.
The assault damaged not only homes but also humanitarian and scientific facilities. The Ukrainian Red Cross reported that a humanitarian warehouse in Kyiv was destroyed, with images showing a shattered interior and officials saying 320,000 relief items were lost, a setback that will affect emergency response and broader humanitarian operations across Ukraine.
The National Institute of Biochemistry was among several institutions hit; its advanced biochemistry laboratory and other offices were gutted. Biologist Yurii Danylovych described the loss as a catastrophe for medical and biological science in Ukraine.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared a day of mourning for Friday. City officials said damage had been recorded across the city of about 3 million, with some buildings heavily damaged. The figures provided by officials reflect both residential and public infrastructure impacts.
Diplomatic quarters and emergency services were affected as well. The EU ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, said that the attacks had struck accommodation used by diplomatic personnel; diplomats themselves were reported unharmed though their belongings were damaged. City officials noted that among the injured were children, paramedics and ambulance station drivers.
Eyewitness accounts captured the human cost. "Our house is on fire. Oleg was pulling our neighbour out of the burning house, while I was phoning all the emergency services during the explosions," one Kyiv resident, Iryna Plekhova, wrote on Facebook, posting a photo of a half-destroyed apartment block. "We do not have an apartment anymore."
Regional responses included temporary defensive measures: Poland briefly scrambled fighter jets as a precaution and Finland imposed a short-lived aviation restriction zone in the eastern Gulf of Finland.
In a wider strategic context, the overnight strikes are part of an intensifying cycle of attacks and counter-attacks. Ukraine has increased strikes on deeper Russian targets, concentrating on energy infrastructure in recent weeks; that campaign has contributed to fuel shortages within Russia, forcing imports of gasoline from distant suppliers. Russia has in turn stepped up long-range strikes on Ukrainian cities and cultural sites.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said sustained military support for Ukraine and increased pressure on Moscow were needed to halt attacks. She indicated plans to propose additional sanctions on entities supporting Russia's military-industrial complex in response to strikes on civilians.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks, with his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, calling them part of a "deadly pattern" of strikes on populated areas.
Zelenskiy has continued to press for diplomacy even as hostilities continue, proposing peace talks with President Vladimir Putin - a proposal the Kremlin has rejected. Zelenskiy said Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators held talks in the two days before the attack and expressed hope of meeting U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit.
Contextual note: Officials emphasized both the human toll and the operational challenges posed by a high-volume, mixed missile-and-drone attack. The loss of humanitarian supplies and damage to scientific infrastructure add to the immediate emergency response needs and longer-term recovery requirements.