16 killed, 33 injured in Russian strikes on Kyiv and surrounding region

At least 16 people were killed in an overnight Russian missile barrage on Kyiv, as explosions were heard across the Ukrainian capital, local authorities said on Thursday.

Another 33 people were injured, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service, while air raid alerts remained in place into the early hours of the morning.

The strikes hit 12 sites across Kyiv’s Darnytskyi, Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts, damaging homes, a medical facility and an educational institution. Emergency crews rescued people trapped under the rubble.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a large-scale Russian attack involved missiles and 168 drones.

“This Russian strike was one of the most cynical, calculated, and large-scale,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that 30 residential buildings, a school, a children’s hospital and a kindergarten were damaged in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

“You cannot simply watch silently and indifferently, doing nothing as the Russians destroy lives with ballistic missiles,” he said, urging Ukraine’s partners to provide further air defence support.

In Solomianskyi, the top two floors of a nine-storey residential building were destroyed and fires broke out on other floors. People were also trapped in two residential buildings and a school shelter.

Kyiv regional governor Tymur Tkachenko said an attack in the Brovary district on the outskirts of the capital killed one man and injured another.

"One industrial facility has been damaged. All relevant services are on site, working to extinguish the fire," he added.

NATO on alert over Russian drones as Spanish fighter jets scramble

The attacks also triggered security responses in neighbouring NATO member states.

Poland’s armed forces said they had scrambled aircraft and activated air defence systems to protect the country’s airspace, particularly near the border with Ukraine.

Romania’s Defence Ministry said radar systems detected aerial targets near the Ukrainian border, prompting the deployment of two Spanish fighter jets stationed in the country as part of NATO missions, as well as a Romanian Air Force helicopter.

Russia has intensified ballistic missile attacks on the capital to constrain Kyiv's defence stocks. Kyiv has limited systems capable of intercepting ballistic threats, while supplies of missiles for its US-made Patriot defence systems remain constrained.

Ukraine has also stepped up long-range strikes on weapons depots, military facilities and other strategic targets inside Russia, in an effort to weaken Moscow’s ability to continue attacks on Ukrainian cities.

Moscow authorities said around 250 drones targeted the region overnight, with most intercepted at a significant distance from the Russian capital.