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Waves of Russian drones and missiles hit Kyiv overnight into Thursday, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 100, in an attack that came days after US President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Moscow and narrowed the window for agreeing to a ceasefire.
The seven-hour aerial bombardment followed a third round of peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Istanbul last week that both sides agreed had made no significant progress towards an armistice.
Authorities in Kyiv said at least one child was among those killed in Thursday’s barrage. Some 12 other children were among the at least 135 wounded in attacks on several residential buildings, including a direct strike on a high-rise apartment block.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian army had launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles in the attack.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said 27 sites across four districts of the Ukrainian capital had sustained damage. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strikes destroyed residential buildings and damaged schools and a children’s hospital.
The attacks were the latest in an escalating air campaign by Russia that has targeted Kyiv and dozens of other cities across Ukraine with thousands of drones and missiles in the past few months.
It came three days into a 10-day ultimatum given by Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree a ceasefire in Ukraine or face tighter sanctions, as the US president’s frustration deepened with his counterpart in the Kremlin.
“We’re going to put sanctions. I don’t know that sanctions bother him [Putin]. You know they know about sanctions,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.
“I know better than anybody about sanctions and tariffs and everything else. I don’t know if that has any effect, but we’re going to do it. Europe is extremely upset.”
He also said that what Russia was doing was “disgusting”. The president’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia after his current visit to Israel and Gaza.
Ukrainian officials argued on Thursday that the latest attacks showed that Trump’s window should close completely.
“It is probably time to reduce to zero all of the timeframes that had been given to Putin to demonstrate a constructive approach,” said Ukraine’s foreign minister Andriy Sybiha. “President Trump has been very generous and very patient with Putin, trying to find a solution.”
“Putin does it on purpose,” he added. “He does not care about any attempts to put an end to the killing. He only seeks to destroy and kill.”
Sybiha said “maximum pressure” must be put on Moscow, including further sanctions.
Also on Thursday, Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have fully captured the eastern city of Chasiv Yar, more than two years after its troops first entered its streets.
The battle for the strategic stronghold has chewed up Russian forces. But a fresh offensive this summer has seen them seize momentum and advance at the fastest pace since the first year of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
The capture of Chasiv Yar, which could not be independently verified, would deal a blow to Ukrainian morale and give the Russians control of a vital hilltop position that could threaten Kyiv’s grip on the last remaining strongholds in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s military did not confirm the loss of Chasiv Yar, but analysts from open-source intelligence group DeepState, which is close to the defence ministry, showed the city either under Russian control or part of its eastern district as no man’s land.
Additional reporting by Steff Chávez
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