Officials report that a recent barrage of Russian drones and missiles has resulted in thirteen fatalities and over 130 injuries across several districts of Kyiv, with one apartment building collapsing overnight.
Among the deceased were a six-year-old boy and his mother, as the Ukrainian capital sustained impacts at more than two dozen locations.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko noted that twelve children were among the injured, marking the highest number of children wounded in a single night in Kyiv since the onset of the full-scale conflict.
These Russian attacks persist despite US President Donald Trump’s warning of intensified sanctions against Moscow if Vladimir Putin fails to agree to a ceasefire by August 8.
“Both Russia and Ukraine must negotiate a ceasefire and durable peace. It is time to make a deal,” stated acting US representative to the United Nations John Kelley to the UN Security Council on Thursday. “President Trump has made clear this must be done by 8 August.”
The distinct hum of Russian drones reverberated across the city for hours, intermittently punctuated by the forceful impact of missile strikes.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia launched 309 drones and eight cruise missiles overnight. While officials claim that air defenses successfully intercepted many of these, numerous impacts were recorded, including those from cruise missiles.
The aftermath on the ground was marked by a red-orange glow indicative of widespread destruction.
These strikes represent the most significant aerial assaults since President Trump moved forward an earlier deadline for President Putin. The threat of increased US sanctions appears to have had limited effect in persuading the Russian leader to alter his course.
Concurrently, Russia has asserted further battlefield gains, claiming the capture of the strategically significant hilltop town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region.
However, Ukraine has refuted these claims, and military analysts report ongoing fighting in the area.
Three of the fatalities in Kyiv occurred at the site of the targeted residential apartment block.
“An entire entrance was destroyed. Rescuers are clearing the rubble,” stated Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko.
The death toll continued to rise throughout the day, with the interior ministry confirming 13 deaths by early evening.
According to the Kyiv mayor, twelve of the 135 wounded were children, and 30 people remained hospitalized by mid-afternoon.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the capital was the primary target of Russia’s overnight attacks.
“The world has yet again seen Russia’s response to our, America’s and Europe’s desire for peace. More demonstrative murder,” he posted on social media.
“This is why peace without strength is impossible.”
Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi and Solomyansky districts sustained the most damage in the assault, with one fatality and 20 injuries reported, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.
The shockwave from the attack shattered windows in a children’s hospital ward in the Shevchenkivskyi district, according to the Kyiv mayor’s Telegram post.
Additionally, one of the city’s higher education institutions, a school, and a kindergarten suffered damage.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described it as a “horrible morning” in Kyiv, stating that “there are still people under the rubble.”
Sybiha added that Trump had been “very generous and patient” with Putin, but now it was time to put “maximum pressure on Moscow” through sanctions.
Earlier in July, Trump set a 50-day deadline for the Kremlin to reach a truce with Kyiv or risk economic penalties.
On Monday, during a visit to the UK, Trump cut that deadline to “ten or 12 days”, expressing his disapproval at Putin’s actions in Ukraine, more than three years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of the country.
Trump didn’t say whether he felt the Russian president had been “lying” to him, but he said there was a discrepancy between Putin’s rhetoric during their one-on-one conversations and the missiles “lobbed” on Ukrainian cities.
“We were going to have a ceasefire and maybe peace… and all of a sudden you have missiles flying into Kyiv and other places,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, on the front line in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv denied Russian claims that the town of Chasiv Yar had finally fallen, after a battle for it that began in April last year.
Little remains of Chasiv Yar after 16 months of fighting, but Ukrainian reports cited military officials as saying the Russians were spreading disinformation.
Open-source intelligence project DeepState suggested that the Russians had taken control of eastern and northern parts of Chasiv Yar, but fighting was still going on in other areas.
Controlling the high ground that it sits on would give Russia a significant vantage point to target the big cities of the Donetsk region to the west, including Druzhivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Ukrainian forces have faced superior Russian manpower on the front lines throughout the war, but reported shortages in the east have left another key Russian target increasingly vulnerable.
The town of Pokrovsk lies about 60km (37 miles) to the south-west of Chasiv Yar and is described as the hottest spot on the front line at this point of the war. Analysts are concerned that the thousands of Ukrainians defending the city could be at risk of encirclement from Russian troops.
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