At least nine people were killed in Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early on Saturday, local officials said, with 23 other people injured. The attacks came two days after a suspected Russian cruise missile landed in Poland, killing eight people, including six members of a family in a village near Kryvyi Rih.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that the city had been hit by more than 10 explosions, with fires igniting across the downtown and power outages in several districts. A residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was partially destroyed, trapping people inside, while another fatality was reported in the Darnytskyi district.
The strikes follow a flurry of missile attacks, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to call for urgently needed Patriot interceptor missiles. Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington DC earlier this week, urging the US to grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot systems; Trump said the talks were ongoing, however he expressed caution over the technology’s potential use.
Russia has escalated air attacks on Ukraine, while Ukraine has intensified retaliatory strikes against Russian logistics hubs, including several retail warehouses belonging to Russia’s largest e‑commerce firm Wildberries.
