Russian Missile and Drone Strikes Kill Eight Across Ukraine, Damage Kyiv Maternity Hospital

KYIV: Russian missile and drone strikes targeted Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine overnight, killing eight people and injuring at least 20, while damaging residential buildings and a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian capital, officials said.

Two people were killed and eight others injured in Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials. One of those killed was in the parking area of a maternity hospital, while parts of the facility’s facade, windows and doors were damaged. Authorities said no patients or medical staff inside the hospital were injured.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency crews were deployed following explosions across several districts. Debris damaged nine homes, a post office, warehouses and dozens of vehicles, while a 16-storey residential building and other private properties were also affected. Earlier reports said residents could be trapped beneath rubble in the Dniprovskyi district.

Ukraine’s Air Force said the overnight barrage involved 282 drones as well as an unspecified number of hypersonic and ballistic missiles. The attacks were reported across several regions, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne and Volyn.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a separate Russian strike on a vegetable storage facility at a farm killed six people and injured 12 others, according to Ukrainian prosecutors.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was attending the UN General Assembly in New York, condemned the attacks and said civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, energy facilities and medical infrastructure, had been targeted. He called for stronger international pressure on Moscow and additional ballistic missile defence systems for Ukraine.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had struck Ukrainian defence facilities, logistics and telecommunications centres, as well as vessels used by Ukraine’s military.

The attacks also had regional repercussions. Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said four Russian drones crossed into Moldovan airspace and at least one exploded, while Romanian authorities reported that a drone crashed on Romanian territory. Poland said it deployed aircraft twice in response to the Russian attacks on neighbouring Ukraine.

The latest strikes come amid an intensification of Russia’s aerial campaign against Ukraine, with Ukrainian authorities continuing to report shortages of air-defence interceptors, particularly those capable of countering ballistic missiles.