KYIV – Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday, igniting fires and injuring at least three civilians, local officials said. Later strikes across other areas of Ukraine left at least two more people dead.
The renewed assault comes as Ukraine’s effective drone operations have slowed Russian battlefield gains and widened pressure inside Russia, where strikes have contributed to fuel shortages and increased strain on President Vladimir Putin.
In Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, Kremlin-installed officials said a Ukrainian drone attack killed four civilians in Horlivka. Ivan Prikhodko, the city’s Russian-appointed mayor, said Horlivka had been under fire since the early morning hours of Sunday.
Russia’s defense ministry said its forces shot down 133 Ukrainian drones overnight over Russian territory, the Black Sea and Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
Russian attacks set fire to tower block near Kyiv center
Explosions shook Kyiv before dawn on Sunday, and falling debris triggered a fire in a high-rise building close to the capital’s historic center, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Klitschko said debris also set buildings, cars and parking areas ablaze in other parts of the city. Three people were injured, including one person who required hospital treatment, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned in his Friday evening address that intelligence assessments showed Russia was preparing missiles for a major attack, with signs pointing to the possibility of a strike within the following 48 hours.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Sunday that its latest attack on Kyiv had struck sites linked to drone production.
Also Sunday, a drone strike on Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city in the east — killed one person and wounded at least six others, including two children, mayor Igor Terekhov reported.
In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian glide bomb killed one man and wounded at least six other people, according to mayor Ivan Fedorov.
Both Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia have been frequent targets for Russian attacks, with Zaporizhzhia — just over 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the front line — suffering heavy bombardment in recent months.
Tit-for-tat strikes
On Friday, a major Russian strike near Kyiv killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100 others, part of a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor.
Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb claimed on Sunday that “Ukraine’s position is stronger than ever since the war began”.
Following a call with his Ukrainian counterpart — and appearing to allude to Kyiv’s recent drone campaign that has struck major Russian energy sites and sought to choke off military supplies — Stubb wrote on X that “continued support from (Ukraine’s) partners is critical to keep up the momentum.”
