At least four killed in 'deliberate' Russian attack on Ukrainian capital causing 'maximum harm'

At least four people were killed after Russia launched a massive combined attack on Kyiv early on Friday, sparking fires and damaging residential buildings across many districts of the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Klitschko added that more information was still being gathered about the victims as rescue workers were unable to retrieve two bodies from the rubble.

At least 27 people were injured as emergency crews responded to multiple strikes, according to officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a "deliberately calculated attack aimed at causing maximum harm to people and civilian infrastructure," in a post on X.

Zelenskyy said "430 drones and 18 missiles were used in the strike, including ballistic and aeroballistic missiles."

Nine people were hospitalised, including a pregnant woman, after a series of powerful explosions sounded in the city and air defences were activated. Among the victims were two children aged 7 and 10.

At least 11 multi-storey residential buildings across several districts were hit in the attack, according to Klitschko.

In the Shevchenkivskyi and Holosiivskyi districts, falling debris sparked a fire in an open area near a medical facility and inside a nonresidential building.

Officials urged residents to remain in shelters until the air raid alert is lifted. City authorities warned that power and water outages are possible.

In the surrounding region, Russian strikes damaged critical infrastructure and private homes, injuring at least six people, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said. A 55-year-old man in Bila Tserkva suffered thermal burns and was hospitalised, he added.

Strikes were also reported across other parts of Ukraine, according to Ukraine's Air Force.

The strikes come as Russia makes gains in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from several villages in Zaporizhzhia amid fierce fighting against Russian forces.

Over the past four weeks, the Russian Defense Ministry has reported capturing nine settlements and villages in Donetsk, eight in the Zaporizhzhia region, seven in the Dnipropetrovsk region and five in the Kharkiv region.

Russia’s corrosive war of attrition has been costly in terms of casualties and armour, however, and Ukraine has held it to incremental battlefield gains.

The Institute for the Study of War said Russia’s siege of Pokrovsk, where it has deployed elite drone operators and special forces soldiers, has been slow-moving because its military commanders are spreading their resources widely.