Russian missile strike kills five in Kyiv, damaging buildings and power infrastructure

Kyiv, Ukraine. Russian ballistic missiles killed at least five people and injured more than two dozen in Kyiv early on Thursday, authorities said, damaging buildings and leaving parts of the Ukrainian capital without power. One person was also killed in the region surrounding Kyiv.

Damage and rescue operations

People were trapped in a residential building and fires broke out in several locations, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Non-residential facilities, warehouses and a children’s hospital were also hit.

A Reuters witness reported hearing more than a dozen explosions.

Ukraine’s emergency service released video showing servicemen fighting a fire in a building and helping people leave facilities destroyed during the overnight attack.

Regional response

Poland, a NATO and European Union member bordering Ukraine, began defensive air operations to protect its airspace, its military said in a post on X.

Diplomatic efforts

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged attacks almost daily since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Diplomatic efforts involving the United States and Europe have so far failed to secure a lasting ceasefire.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this month that Ukraine had submitted proposals for ending the war to U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. He has also repeatedly requested interceptor missiles to defend against missile attacks.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia that Russia had not received specific proposals for possible new meetings with U.S. negotiators, but said Moscow was ready to arrange a meeting at short notice.

Witkoff and Kushner were last in Moscow in January and have not yet visited Kyiv.