Russia unleashed its largest air attack on Ukraine overnight, targeting the main government building in central Kyiv and killing at least two people, including an infant, Ukrainian officials reported on Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that the drone and missile barrage caused widespread damage across the north, south, and east of the country. Cities like Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, and Odesa, as well as the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, were also affected. “Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” Zelenskiy posted on X, urging allies to bolster Ukrainian air defenses.
In Kyiv, thick smoke billowed into the clear blue sky from the burning top floor of the main government building in the historic Pecherskyi district, as observed by Reuters witnesses.
Residential areas in Kyiv were also hit, with dozens of residents wrapped in blankets gathering on the streets to assess the damage to their homes. Rescue workers struggled to extinguish the flames.
Growing Pessimism and International Reactions
The attack highlighted growing pessimism in Ukraine and among allies that the war can end soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin has resisted calls for a ceasefire and is emboldened by strengthening ties with China.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Moscow since his meeting with Putin last month. However, he has so far resisted imposing tougher sanctions on Russia to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
On Friday, Trump stated that he was still working on security guarantees for Ukraine. These guarantees, he believes, would help end the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two.
Kyiv’s European allies have pledged political and military support but are still discussing concrete offers of assistance, including the possibility of deploying troops.
Unprecedented Attack and Casualties
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko noted that this was the first time in the war that the main government building in Kyiv was hit. Russia launched 805 drones and 13 missiles against Ukraine overnight. Ukrainian defense units managed to down 751 drones and four missiles, according to the Ukrainian air force. This was the highest number of drones Russia has used to attack the country since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed it had carried out strikes on Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and transport infrastructure, as reported by the Tass news agency, with both sides denying targeting civilians.
Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported that an infant’s body was pulled from the rubble in the Darnytskyi district, where a four-story apartment building was damaged. A young woman was also killed in the attack on the district, which lies to the east of the Dnipro River. The interior ministry stated that more than 20 people were wounded in the attacks on the capital with air alerts lasted for more than 11 hours in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
Earlier on Sunday, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that an elderly woman died in a bomb shelter in the Darnytskyi district, though the cause of her death was not immediately known, adding that a pregnant woman was among those wounded.
