Russia launches "horrific" attack on Kyiv, with US citizen among those killed
Kyiv, Ukraine - Russia launched dozens of drones and missiles at Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens of others in its latest attack on Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the latest overnight barrage as "one of the most horrific attacks" on Kyiv since the Kremlin launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
Zelensky said a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched in the strikes nationwide and urged the international community not to "turn a blind eye".
"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war. He wants the war to go on," he said.
AFP journalists saw smoke billowing over the capital's skyline at dawn and a multiple-story housing block gutted by the attack. Rescue workers were scrambling to find any survivors buried beneath the rubble.
"It was probably the most hellish night in my memory for our neighborhood," 20-year-old student Alina Shtompel told AFP.
"It is indescribably painful that our people are going through this right now."
More than three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has stepped up attacks amid efforts by the US to broker a ceasefire.
Talks have stalled. Moscow has rejected the "unconditional" truce demanded by Kyiv and its European allies, while Ukraine has dismissed Russia's demands as "ultimatums."
Kyiv mayor confirms US national's death
Zelensky had been hoping to speak with Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, but the US president – who had called for Russia to be readmitted to the group of nations – cut short his visit as Israel escalated its war on Iran.
Russia hit some 27 sites in Kyiv overnight and some residents were left without electricity, officials said.
Dozens of residents took shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv, sleeping on mats, exchanging information on attack or reassuring pets, AFP journalists reported, while drones buzzed and explosions echoed out over the city.
"I was asleep. There was a loud bang. The window was smashed, and glass rained down on me," Sergii, another Kyiv resident, said.
Residential buildings, educational institutions and "critical infrastructure facilities" were all hit, Interior Minister Klymenko said.
Kyiv's mayor reported earlier that a 62-year-old US citizen had died in a Russian strike on the capital's Solomyansky district.
Shelling on the frontline Sumy and Kherson regions later in the day killed two others, authorities said.
Cover photo: REUTERS