[UPDATES] Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that at least 22 people were killed and 134 wounded in Kyiv after one of the deadliest Russian attacks on the capital since the war began more than three years ago.
Emergency crews said 17 of the victims were pulled from the rubble of a nine-story apartment building in the city’s Solomyansky district. In response to the attack, 120 emergency medical teams were deployed across the city.
[UPDATES] As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 10 people had been confirmed dead following a massive overnight attack on the capital – contradicting earlier reports of 15 fatalities cited by President Volodymyr Zelensky and local authorities.
Search and rescue efforts are still underway, Klitschko said, adding that people may remain trapped under the rubble.
A massive overnight aerial assault by Russian forces struck several cities across Ukraine early Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more, officials said. Kyiv was hit especially hard in what authorities called one of the most extensive bombardments in recent months.
In the capital, 27 sites across multiple districts were struck, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 75 people were injured.
Two apartment buildings in the Solomianskyi district were among the hardest hit – one caught fire, while the other partially collapsed, with an entire entrance section caving in. “Rescuers are clearing the rubble and searching for people,” Klitschko said.
The couple was captured sitting in the middle of the strike site, waiting for their son to be rescued from under the rubble. As of 9 a.m., there has been no update on the boy’s fate.
Kyiv Post editors were among those jolted awake as waves of drones moved toward the capital from multiple directions. Klitschko warned shortly after midnight that “enemy drones are coming over the city from three directions,” and added that missile threats were ongoing.
Kyiv Post correspondent, living in the hardest-hit Solomianskyi district, experienced three major waves of strikes: the first at approximately 1:30 a.m., the second around 4 a.m. – the most devastating, with ballistic missiles hitting just around the corner – and the last at approximately 5:30 a.m., with another wave of extremely powerful drones.
“Last night was the first time in the past 3.5 years that I truly felt I was going to die. It was pure hell.”
Journalist and former US Air Force pilot Christopher Stewart, who lives in Kyiv’s Kriukivshchyna suburb, described “many, many explosions” from Shahed drones beginning around 1:30 a.m. local time. “A big series [of explosions] hit Kriukivshchyna, Vyshneve, and Hayne—suburbs just south of Kyiv,” Stewart reported.
In Dniprovskyi, a drone fragment was found embedded in the wall of a residential building. In Obolonskyi, debris fell on a car, and in Podilskyi, it landed in an open area. A dormitory at the Kyiv Aviation Institute was also damaged.
“Everyone is alive, but there are injured,” said Ksenia Semenova, acting rector of the institute. “Students and staff are being relocated.”
In southern Ukraine, fires broke out in Odesa after a drone attack, leaving 13 people injured, including a child, said Oleg Kiper, head of the regional military administration. He said residential buildings, a preschool and garages in the city center were damaged. Search and rescue efforts were ongoing as some people may still be trapped under rubble.
Further east, Russian strikes hit an industrial site in Zaporizhzhia region, damaging nearby homes, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.
This was the fourth major aerial attack on Kyiv since Russia’s “Operation Spiderweb” led to the destruction of billions of dollars worth of its military aircraft, a possible factor in the intensifying air campaign against Ukraine’s cities.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attacks as “pure terrorism,” calling on the United States, Europe, and the entire world to respond as civilized society would to terrorists.
“Putin does this simply because he can continue the war,” Zelensky said. “He wants the war to go on. It’s bad when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye. We are in contact with all partners at every possible level to ensure a proper response. Terrorists must feel pain, not normal, peaceful people.”