Watch: Drones smashes into apartment block in massive Russian raid on Kyiv
Russian airstrikes killed at least 14 people, including a US citizen, and wounded dozens more in 'one of the most terrible' overnight barrages aimed at Kyiv.
A kamikaze attack drone was filmed flying straight into the upper levels of a multi-storey residential building, with president Volodymyr Zelensky saying civilians were still trying to escape the rubble as of Tuesday morning.
In the footage, taken in the early hours of the morning, the drone explodes in a huge fireball, hitting the building while many would have been asleep.
The Russian attack struck 27 sites across the capital, including critical infrastructure sites as well as a nursery, according to the interior ministry. In total the barrage lasted almost nine-hours, making it one of the longest of the conflict to date.
More than 100 people have sought medical treatment, with 68 hospitalised, said mayor Vitali Klitschko, who posted a video on Telegram while holding a cluster-munition apparently used in the strike.
Mr Zelensky said 440 drones and 32 missiles were fired at Ukraine, including 'one of the most terrible strikes on Kyiv'.
He added: 'People are currently trying to get out of the rubble of an ordinary residential building. It is not clear how many there are.'
In the capital's Solomianskyi district, a huge chunk had been taken out of the tower-block by the Shahed strike, leaving piles of splintered wood and concrete and a gaping hole in the structure.
Standing by the attack site, Mr Klitschko said 'there is no exact information yet about the buried [and] rescuers are working on the ground.'
A 62-year-old US citizen died during the strike, the mayor added. The man's identity has not been released.
Video from the site showed a man and woman waiting by the rubble as rescuers worked. The woman has her head in her hands, while the man rocks backwards and forwards and weeps.
The Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday it had shot down 402 of 440 drones, and 26 of 32 missiles, launched overnight.
Russia has drastically increased its production of Shahed-style attack drones, firing around 300 a month last summer and now more than 4,000.
Russian engineers have improved the domestically-produced variant, known as the Geran, making it faster and harder to jam with electronic warfare systems.
Mr Zelensky said: 'Such attacks are pure terrorism. And the whole world, the USA and Europe must finally react the way a civilised society reacts to terrorism.'
US-led talks over a ceasefire have stalled in recent weeks. US President Donald Trump, who had pushed for a 30-day ceasefire, said that he might have to 'let them fight for a while' after Putin refused to co-operate.
Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine's foreign minister, said: 'Putin does this on purpose... He sends a signal of total disrespect to the United States and other partners who have called for an end to the killing.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
44 minutes ago
- Reuters
Gazprom may demand penalties if Slovakia cuts gas contract short, importer says
June 17 (Reuters) - Russian gas firm Gazprom may hit Slovakia with demands to pay some 16 billion euros, using current prices, for cutting short a long-term contract under an European Union plan to end Russian gas imports after 2027, Slovak state-owned gas importer SPP said on Tuesday. SPP, which has a contract until 2034, said that the Gazprom claim may come despite declaration of force majeure by SPP if the EU bans imports. Slovakia has been keen to maintain gas and oil supplies from Russia, despite EU efforts to cut Russia's income from fossil fuels amid its war against Ukraine, saying ending them would raise prices in Europe and threaten security of supplies.
South Wales Guardian
an hour ago
- South Wales Guardian
Russian missile and drone attack kills 15 and injures dozens in Ukraine
At least 14 people were killed as explosions echoed across the Ukrainian capital for almost nine hours during the night, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said. The bombardment demolished a nine-storey residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Russia fired more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, calling the Kyiv attack 'one of the most terrifying strikes' on the capital. Ukraine's Interior Ministry said 139 people were injured in Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that Wednesday would be an official day of mourning. It was one of the deadliest attacks on Kyiv in recent months and came after two rounds of direct peace talks failed to make progress on ending the war, now in its fourth year. Russia has repeatedly hit civilian areas of Ukraine with missiles and drones. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations. Russia says it strikes only military targets. Russia has in recent months stepped up its aerial attacks. It launched almost 500 drones at Ukraine on June 10 in the biggest overnight drone bombardment of the war. Russia also pounded Kyiv on April 24, killing at least 12 people in its deadliest assault on the capital in eight months. The intensified long-range strikes have coincided with a Russian summer offensive on eastern and north-eastern sections of the 620-mile front line, where Ukraine is short-handed and needs more military support from its western partners. Uncertainty about US policy on the war has fuelled doubts about how much help Kyiv can count on. Mr Zelensky was set to meet US President Donald Trump at a G7 summit in Canada on Tuesday and press him for more help, but the White House announced Mr Trump would return early to Washington on Monday night because of tensions in the Middle East. Mr Zelensky is trying to prevent Ukraine from being sidelined in international diplomacy as tensions escalate in the Middle East and concerns remain over US trade tariffs. Mr Trump said earlier this month it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, even as European leaders have urged him to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin into accepting a ceasefire and compromising in peace talks. Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Russia's attacks during the G7 summit showed Mr Putin's 'total disrespect' for the US and other countries. 'Russia not only rejects a ceasefire or a leaders' meeting to find solutions and end the war. It cynically strikes Ukraine's capital while pretending to seek diplomatic solutions,' Mr Sybiha wrote on social media. Ukrainian forces have hit back against Russia with their own domestically produced long-range drones. The Russian military said it downed 203 Ukrainian drones over 10 Russian regions between Monday evening and Tuesday morning. Russian civil aviation agency Rosaviatsia reported briefly halting flights overnight in and out of all four Moscow airports, as well as the airports in the cities of Kaluga, Tambov and Nizhny Novgorod, as a precaution. The overnight Russian drone strikes, meanwhile, also struck the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, killing one person and injuring 17 others, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the regional administration. Mr Putin 'is doing this simply because he can afford to continue the war', Mr Zelensky said. 'He wants the war to go on. It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.' The Russian attack delivered 'direct hits on residential buildings,' the Kyiv City Military Administration said in a statement. A US citizen died in the attack after suffering shrapnel wounds, interior minister Ihor Klymenko told reporters. Thirty apartments were destroyed in a single residential block after it was struck by a ballistic missile, Mr Klymenko said. 'We have 27 locations that were attacked by the enemy. We currently have over 2,000 people working there, rescuers, police, municipal services and doctors,' he told reporters at the scene of one of the attacks. Olena Lapyshniak, 49, was shaken from the strike that nearly levelled her apartment building. She heard a whistling sound and then two explosions that blew out her windows and doors. 'It's horrible, it's scary, in one moment there is no life,' she said. 'There's no military infrastructure here, nothing here, nothing. It's horrible when people just die at night.'
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
PM Fico says neutrality would benefit NATO member Slovakia
June 17 (Reuters) - NATO member Slovakia would benefit from being a neutral country, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday, without announcing any plan to take steps in that direction. "If you ask me, I tell you that in these nonsensical times of arms buildup, when arms companies are rubbing their hands... neutrality would benefit Slovakia very much," he told a press conference shown online. "But unfortunately this decision is not in my hands," he said, without giving details, although any decision by Slovakia to leave NATO would be a complex process that would include a decision by parliament. No NATO member has left the alliance since it was founded in 1949. Slovakia, which is also a European Union member, has diverged from Western allies in its position on Ukraine under Fico and his leftist-nationalist government coalition, and stopped official state military aid to Kyiv as it battles Russia's invasion. Fico was speaking before a meeting on Tuesday between Slovak political party leaders and President Peter Pellegrini ahead of a NATO summit on June 24-25. NATO leaders will discuss increasing their defence and related spending gradually to 5% of gross domestic product, with 3.5% for military spending and 1.5% for infrastructure and other security-related projects. Fico said any defence spending increase would have to be gradual and for dual military and civilian use, and that Slovakia could achieve requested military capabilities for less. He also said he did not understand the need for a buildup in military capacities, which is the main focus of NATO's efforts to deter Russia after its attack against Ukraine. "Would neutrality suit Slovakia? I am putting this question very officially and clearly," he said in response to a question during a briefing at the country's economy ministry. "What war are we talking about? Who are we going to fight with?" Fico said.
