Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv Apartment Building Kills 24, Zelenskyy Leads Mourning

A Russian missile attack flattened a Kyiv apartment building, and the death toll rose to 24 as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led mourning for one of the deadliest attacks on the capital in the 4-year-old war.

“Kyiv mourns as death toll from Russian attack in the Ukrainian capital rises to 24 Kyiv mourns as death toll from Russian attack in the Ukrainian capital rises to 24 KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The death toll from a Russian missile attack that flattened a Kyiv apartment building rose Friday to 24, including three teenagers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said as he led the mourning for one of the deadliest attacks on the capital in the 4-year-old war”

Associated Press

The cruise missile hit a nine-story corner apartment block Thursday, and emergency workers finished digging through the rubble searching for victims after more than a day, Zelenskyy said on X.

Associated Press

Zelenskyy said Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday, adding that about 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings.

In Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, structural components of a residential building collapsed and people were trapped underneath, according to preliminary reports cited by Klitschko.

Ukrainian officials also said the overnight barrage included 675 attack drones and 56 missiles, with 652 drones and 41 missiles shot down or jammed before reaching the target.

Zelenskyy instructed Ukraine’s military to prepare "possible formats for our response" after the strike on Kyiv that killed at least 24 people and injured at least 48 others, according to the Kyiv City Military Administration and the State Emergency Service.

In the same reporting, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said he instructed the initiation of a United Nations Security Council meeting "to respond to Russia's killings of Ukrainian civilians and attacks against humanitarian personnel."

BFM

The Kyiv Independent also reported that Zelenskyy said an Kh-101 missile that struck a building in Kyiv was manufactured in the second quarter of this year, stressing that Russia is still able to import components, resources, and equipment needed for missile production despite sanctions.

Zelenskyy said the intercept rate was 94% for drones but only 7% for missiles, calling it "This is a deliberate terrorist tactic by the Russians" in a description of how the strike was planned to create "the greatest possible difficulties for our air defense."

On the Russian side, the defense ministry said "Russian troops, in response to the terrorist attacks of Ukraine on civilian objects" carried out a massive retaliatory strike.

While Kyiv mourned, Ukrainian strikes also hit Russian territory, with the Ukrainian attack on the city of Ryazan reported as killing three people and injuring 12, according to Russian officials cited by multiple outlets.

“Hi there, For three decades, people have counted on Democracy Now”

Democracy Now!

The Associated Press reported that a Ukrainian drone struck Ryazan, a city about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, killing four people including a child, with massive plumes of black smoke rising from a fire at an oil refinery.

In Kyiv, emergency services said the attack destroyed all 18 apartments in a nine-storey residential building in the Darnytsia neighbourhood, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday as a day of mourning.

Euronews reported that the Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 675 attack drones and 56 missiles, and that air defence units downed 652 of the drones and 41 missiles, as emergency workers searched under concrete slabs.

Euronews also quoted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen writing on X that "Another night of death and destruction. And the indiscriminate targeting of civilians," while French President Emmanuel Macron said Russia’s attack "laid bare all the hypocrisy with which it negotiated the fragile truce of the past few days."