Russian overnight attack on Kyiv kills at least 18, including 4 children, Ukraine says

KYIV - Russia pounded Ukraine’s capital with deadly missiles and drone strikes early on Aug 28 in a sweeping attack that President Volodymyr Zelensky said was Moscow’s answer to diplomatic efforts to end its war.

At least 18 people, including four children, were killed in Kyiv, city officials said.

As the sun rose, rescuers were digging through a partly destroyed apartment building on Kyiv’s left bank, where a Reuters correspondent saw workers pulling two bodies from the rubble.

At least 38 people were wounded in the hours-long assault on the city, which damaged buildings in all city districts, officials said.

The strikes damaged the European Union’s mission and British Council offices in the city. The EU and London summoned Russian envoys to protest. There were no reports of casualties at either site.

Across the country, Ukraine’s military said Russian attacks struck 13 locations. National grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities were hit.

“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Mr Zelensky said on social media platform X, calling for new sanctions on Russia. “It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its attacks hit military industrial facilities and military air bases, and that Ukraine had also struck Russian targets. The Kremlin said it was still interested in pursuing peace talks.

Moscow has regularly denied targeting civilians, but Ukrainian officials say scores of civilians have died in Russian strikes on densely populated areas over the recent months, and thousands since the start of the war.

During the attack on Kyiv, explosions rang out as clouds of smoke rose into the night sky. Drones could be heard whirring overhead.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko described it as one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months.

A push by Kyiv and its allies to end the invasion that Moscow launched in February 2022 has yielded little despite high-level meetings between

US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts

.

Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front line and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in a bid to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory.

“This is another grim reminder of what is at stake. It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians and even targeting the European Union,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels. She said two missiles had struck near the office within 20 seconds of each other.

She said the EU would soon come up with a 19th package of sanctions against Russia.

European Council president Antonio Costa wrote on social media: “My thoughts are with the Ukrainian victims and also with the staff of @EUDelegationUA whose building was damaged in this deliberate Russian strike. The EU will not be intimidated.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned the assault. Writing on X, he said: “My thoughts are with all those affected by the senseless Russian strikes on Kyiv which have damaged the British Council building. Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace.”

Ukraine’s military said air defences had downed 563 of nearly 600 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched by Russia across the country.

One attack damaged a railway hub in central Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region, where officials said a strike on critical infrastructure had left 60,000 residents without power.

Ukrainian officials have warned recently that Russia would step up strikes on the country’s energy grid as winter approaches.

Moscow’s Defence Ministry said Russian air defences destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight in at least seven regions.

Ukraine’s drone force said it had struck the Afipsky and Kuybyshevskyi oil refineries as part of that attack.

Russia added that its forces had used an unmanned speedboat to hit and sink a Ukrainian reconnaissance boat on Aug 28 at the mouth of the Danube River.

Mr Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s navy, said the attack killed one person and several others were wounded or missing. He did not comment on the strike location.

The Danube ports are critically important for Ukraine, serving as an alternative to the Black Sea ports through which fuel and other critical cargoes are imported into the country. REUTERS