Nine killed, dozens injured, in Russia’s deadly attack on Kyiv

At least nine people were killed on Thursday, April 24, 2025, and more than 70 injured in Kyiv after Russia attacked Ukraine.

The Guardian reports that the attack was one of the most devastating air attacks against Ukraine for months.

According to it, Kharkiv and other cities were also targeted.

Waves of drones as well as ballistic and guided missiles struck the Ukrainian capital early on Thursday.

There were explosions for much of the night, beginning at about 1am local time.

Also, there was the rattle of anti-aircraft fire as Ukrainian defences tried to shoot the missiles down.

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said rescuers were pulling survivors from under the rubble.

The injured included six children and a pregnant woman.

A house, cars, and other buildings were set on fire, with extensive damage caused by falling debris in several districts, he said.

“Russia has launched a massive combined strike on Kyiv,” Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Telegram.

“According to preliminary data, nine people were killed, 63 injured,” it added.

Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said a big rescue operation was under way in the Svyatoshinsky district of Kyiv.

He also said that the rescue involved dogs and engineering teams.

Klymenko added, “Mobile phones can be heard ringing under the ruins.

“The search will continue until everybody is got out.

“We have information about two children who cannot be found at the scene of the incident,” he added.

On Wednesday evening, drones could be seen buzzing in the sky above the north-east Kharkiv region and flying over a forest.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, was hit by seven missiles and 12 kamikaze drones in strikes throughout the night as black smoke plumed overhead.

According to Kharkiv’s mayor, several private houses, a factory and a high-rise apartment block were hit.

“One of the most recent strikes hit a densely populated residential area.

“Two people were injured there,” Ihor Terekhov said.

He further urged people to be careful.

The onslaught came as Donald Trump lashed out at Volodymyr Zelenskyy for failing to support a US “peace plan”.

This plan was one in which Crimea and other Ukrainian territories would be handed to Russia.

On Wednesday, Trump accused Ukraine’s president of prolonging the “killing field” and making “very harmful” statements.

Zelenskyy has ruled out recognising Crimea as Russian.

He also says a complete ceasefire is needed before any settlement can be discussed.

On Thursday, Zelenskyy said he was cutting short a trip to South Africa because of the attack.

“It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes…

“And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

“The strikes must be stopped immediately and unconditionally,” he added.

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Andriy Sybiga, said Russia’s “maximalist demands for Ukraine to withdraw from its regions.

He added that combined with the brutal strikes, it showed that Russia, not Ukraine, is the obstacle to peace.

He added: “Moscow, not Kyiv, is where pressure should be applied.

“Putin demonstrates through his actions, not words, that he does not respect any peace efforts and only wants to continue the war.

“Weakness and concessions will not stop his terror and aggression.

“Only strength and pressure will.”

Posting on social media, as Russian bombs fell around them, Ukrainians criticized Trump’s one-sided approach.

They criticized his apparent indifference to Ukrainian civilian casualties.

The massive attack suggested the Kremlin was not remotely interested in peace, they suggested.

There were further attacks in the cities of Pavlohrad and Zhytomyr, as well as in the Zaporizhzhia region.

In Kyiv some residents spent a sleepless night in the subway, which doubles as a missile shelter.

According to the photographer Kostyantyn Liberov, Shahed drones struck the same district twice.

This was as rescuers and civilians were trying to free a young woman who was trapped in a collapsed building.

“Honey, we’ll get you out no matter what.

We’re right here,” one of the rescuers reassured her, as the loud roar of a Shahed drone buzzed overhead, Liberov reported.

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