KYIV: Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s Kyiv region early on Monday, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, Ukrainian authorities said, a day before a NATO summit in Turkey where the war is expected to dominate discussions.
The strike was the second on Kyiv and its surrounding region in less than a week, underscoring the intensifying conflict more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian officials, seven people were killed in Kyiv and one in the Bucha district northwest of the capital, while at least 34 others were wounded.
Residential Areas Hit
An AFP journalist in Kyiv reported hearing more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert before dawn, followed by another series of blasts about 30 minutes later.
“The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, wrote on Telegram.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defence systems were responding to the attack and urged residents to remain in shelters.
The strikes triggered four fires in residential buildings.
“Places where people were simply sleeping tonight,” Tkachenko said, describing the damaged sites.
“There are no words that can ease this pain,” he added.
Cross-Border Attacks Continue
The latest attack came as both Russia and Ukraine stepped up long-range strikes.
Ukraine has intensified attacks on energy infrastructure inside Russia in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Moscow’s military operations. It has also targeted Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.
In Russian-annexed Crimea, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said a Ukrainian strike near Sevastopol temporarily disrupted electricity supplies.
“Following an enemy attack on energy infrastructure near Sevastopol, our city was temporarily left without electricity,” he wrote on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Russian air defences intercepted several waves of Ukrainian drones approaching the Russian capital.
Diplomacy Overshadowed by Fighting
The attack came on the eve of a NATO summit in Ankara, where US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
A senior White House official said the meeting would focus on efforts to end the war.
“The president’s obviously getting together with him to talk about how we can end the war. That’s been a priority of his for a long time,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Trump is also expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin after his meeting with Zelensky as Washington seeks to revive stalled peace negotiations.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, fighting on the battlefield has continued unabated.
President Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were still defending the strategic eastern town of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region after Russia claimed to have captured it.
“Fighting is also continuing for Kostyantynivka, which (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin has already claimed as his own, but it is obvious that he will never dare to appear there,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.
He also warned that Russia was preparing fresh large-scale attacks ahead of the NATO summit.
