Rescue workers deployed at the site of the missile strike on Kyiv on 31 July 2025. Photo: Volodymyr Zelensky / Telegram
At least six people were killed and 82 more were injured in a “massive” Russian missile and drone strike on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, authorities in the Ukrainian capital have said.
Posting footage of rescue operations on X on Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched over 300 drones and eight missiles at the country overnight, with Kyiv the “primary target of the massive attack”.
Russian strikes caused “extensive damage to residential infrastructure”, destroying an entire section of an apartment block and killing six people, including a six-year-old boy, Zelensky added.
“Today, the world once again saw Russia’s response to our desire for peace, shared with America and Europe,” Zelensky said. “That is why peace without strength is impossible. But forcing Moscow to make peace, compelling them to come to a real negotiating table — all the tools needed for this are in the hands of our partners”.
Of the 82 people wounded in the attack, 44 had been hospitalised, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko added that at least nine children had been injured — “the highest number of children wounded in a single night in Kyiv since the start of the full-scale war”.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said strikes had been recorded at 27 locations across the capital, with over 300 emergency workers deployed as rescue operations continued through Thursday morning.
“Last night, Russia once again attacked civilians. Residential buildings were targeted. Another night of fear, pain and irreparable loss for Ukrainian families”, a Telegram post by the State Emergency Service read.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had launched a total of 309 drones and eight missiles at the country overnight, with Kyiv the primary target of the attack. Air defences intercepted 288 drones and three missiles, it said, but five missiles and 21 drones struck a total of 12 locations in the capital.
The strikes on Kyiv came just days after US President Donald Trump criticised Russia for spending “everything on war and killing people” as it continued its attacks on Ukrainian cities and gave Vladimir Putin a deadline of “10 or 12 days” to end the war or face sanctions.