At least four killed as Russia launches overnight missile attack on Kyiv
Russia carried out a large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv and its surrounding region overnight into Tuesday, killing at least four people and wounding more than a dozen. The strikes came as Ukrainian schoolchildren returned from summer break.
A large-scale Russian missile and drone attack struck Kyiv and its surrounding region overnight into Tuesday, killing at least four people and injuring more than a dozen others, Ukrainian officials reported.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said on Telegram that the region had come under a massive assault involving Russian missiles and strike drones. Residents of Kyiv described hearing more than a dozen loud blasts and seeing flashes light up the night sky after the air force issued warnings of incoming ballistic missiles.
The city's military administration said three people were killed within the capital itself, with more than five others wounded. Tkachenko added that strikes in Boryspil, east of Kyiv, damaged a business, killing one person and injuring another, while a residential building hit in the same area left eight more people wounded.
Earlier, Ukraine's air force had warned that the threat of ballistic weapons and other attack methods against Kyiv and the wider region remained active, urging residents to stay in shelters until the alert was lifted. The attack coincided with Ukrainian children returning to school on Tuesday after the summer holidays, prompting the Kyiv regional administration to warn against holding large gatherings in higher-risk areas.
Kyiv and its surrounding areas have faced sustained aerial bombardment from Russia in recent weeks, with jet-powered drones adding to the danger and triggering as many as a dozen air-raid alerts in a single day. A separate weekend strike on an ammunition depot in the capital region killed 38 people.
Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up long-range strikes in recent months, hitting infrastructure such as warehouses, businesses, oil facilities, ports and ships, which has driven up civilian casualties. Ukraine says it is running critically short of interceptor missiles, particularly US-made Patriot systems needed to counter ballistic threats, and has been pressing allies for further support to strengthen its air defences against what it describes as nightly attacks.
