Eight People Died As A Result Of Russian Missile And Drone Attacks On Kyiv

The impact of Russian airstrikes on Kyiv. (Twitter/@ZelenskyyUa)

JAKARTA - Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Wednesday night local time killed at least eight people, injured more than 70 others and destroyed buildings in the city's biggest attack this year.

The attack sparked a fire and six children were among the injured, with several still trapped under the rubble, officials said.

"There has been damage. The search for people under the rubble is still ongoing," wrote the State Emergency Service on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told X that the " brutal attack" showed that Russia, not Ukraine, was an obstacle to peace. There was no immediate comment from Russia on the overnight attack.

Meanwhile, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said eight people had so far been confirmed dead in the capital, although officials had previously said nine people were killed.

The most serious incident occurred in Sviatoshynskyi District, west of the city center, where rescuers continued to clean up debris from two buildings, Mayor Klitschko said.

Images posted on Telegram showed rescue teams working with spotlights, moving carefully through piles of debris and climbing stairs that stretched along the building's fault. Police called from one apartment to another to determine if the occupants were safe.

Rescue teams operate in 13 locations in Kyiv with climbing specialists and sniffer dogs, emergency services said. Fourteen fires have occurred.

"The cell phone sounded ringing under the rubble. The search will continue until it becomes clear that they have found everyone," he said.

It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes. This was a proposal from the United States. And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evading tough pressure and accountability for its actions.

It is extremely… pic.twitter.com/87CSHvsvqG

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 24, 2025

It has been 44 days since Ukraine agreed to a full ceasefire and a halt to strikes. This was a proposal from the United States. And it has been 44 days of Russia continuing to kill our people and evacuating tough pressure and accountability for its actions.

It is extreme... pic.twitter.com/87CSHvsvqG

Fires have occurred in garages, administrative buildings, and fallen metal shards have hit vehicles.

The airstrike warning applies to the capital for six hours.

"There was an airstrike siren, we didn't even have time to dress up to get out of the apartment. One explosion came after the other, all the windows were shattered, my doors, walls, husband and child were thrown to the other side," Kyiv resident Viktoria Bakal said, describing the attack.

Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a post on Telegram, Russia launched 145 unmanned aircraft and 70 missiles, including 11 ballistic missiles, in an attack overnight. The air force unit shot down 112 targets.

Minister of Home Affairs Ihor Klymenko said, apart from Kyiv and its surrounding areas, seven other areas were targeted by "mass" attacks.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, experienced a wave of missiles and Russian unmanned aircraft last night, the mayor of Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

Terekhov said the city in northeastern Ukraine was attacked 14 times by drone and 10 times with missiles. Buildings of multilevel residences, city polyclinics, school buildings, private courtyards, industrial companies, and hotel complexes were damaged and one person was taken to hospital, he said.

There was also damage in Zhytomyr's area, west of Kyiv, where emergency services said Russian forces launched repeated attacks on rescue teams that were handling fires, injuring one worker.

Ukraine's state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia said rail infrastructure was attacked and two train workers were injured.

"In the Kyiv and Kharkiv areas, attacks damaged technical lines, administrative and technical buildings, but trains were operating as usual," he said.

As for the industrial city of Pavlograd, which is located in the central part of Dnipropxisk, 14 graded buildings were damaged, most of the windows and balconys, the regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram, adding no one was injured in the attack.

The attack comes at a critical time in Russia's war in Ukraine, which began with Moscow's massive invasion in 2022, with Kyiv and Moscow under pressure from US President Donald Trump to show progress towards a peace agreement.

Trump and his government are threatening to abandon efforts to mediate a ceasefire if no progress is made, making European countries look for ways to support Kyiv.