Major Russian air attack on Kyiv leaves 21 dead, damages EU diplomatic offices
Attack was the first major combined Russian drone and missile barrage to strike Ukraine’s capital since Trump met with Putin in Alaska
Russia launched a major air attack on Kyiv early on Thursday that included a rare strike on the centre of Ukraine’s capital, killing at least 21 people, wounding 48 and damaging European Union diplomatic offices, authorities said.
The bombardment of drones and missiles was the first major Russian attack on Kyiv in weeks as US-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction. Britain said the attack sabotaged peace efforts, while top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas summoned Russia’s EU envoy to Brussels over the strikes that damaged EU offices.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on air strikes against Ukraine on Friday afternoon at the request of Ukraine and the five European council members – Britain, France, Slovenia, Denmark and Greece. Two of Ukraine’s top envoys were set to meet Friday with the Trump administration regarding mediation.
The Kremlin said Russia remained interested in continuing peace talks despite Thursday’s air attack, which was one of the war’s biggest since it began in 2022.
Among the dead were four children aged between 2 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. He said more people could still be under the rubble, and search and rescue efforts continued on Thursday evening.
The attack was one of the few times Russian drones and missiles have penetrated the heart of Kyiv since the start of the full-scale invasion.