'Enemy strikes persists': Russia launches massive ballistic missile attack on Ukraine, at least 17 killed

In a massive strike, Russia attacked Ukraine with ballistic missiles and drones, killing at least 15 people and leaving over 50 injured. The attack is being termed as one of the deadliest strikes across Kyiv this year. Kyiv’s military administration said that seven sites had come under attack that began after midnight. Air raid alerts for Kyiv remained in place for more than an hour. The attack came after strikes and counter strikes killed at least 27 people in Ukraine and Russia. The five-year-long conflict is showing no signs of slowing down with US President Donald Trump also failing in striking a peace deal between the two countries. Russia has intensified attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, while Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, including power facilities.

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“Rescue workers are continuing to operate under high-risk conditions, as the risk of further enemy strikes persists,” the State Emergency Service of Ukraine said. Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said that one warehouse building had been destroyed near the city centre and rescue teams had pulled two people from the ruins. "There may still be people under the rubble. Search and rescue operations are proceeding,” he wrote on Telegram. In an earlier post on Telegram, Klitschko said that air defence units had been in action to repel the assault. The head of Kyiv's military administration, Timur Tkachenko, said the “enemy is once again massively attacking the Kyiv region.”

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Earlier this week, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a lack of ballistic missile interceptors “only encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives.” He met his US counterpart Donald Trump last Tuesday, partly to lobby Washington for licences to produce Patriots domestically. Meanwhile, UN human rights monitors have voiced concern about rising numbers of civilian casualties, which have reached their highest level since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky reacted on the attack and batted once again for ballistic missile interceptors. He wrote on X, “Ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today. It is very important that our partners understand that delays in supplying them, or an unwillingness to provide anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”