Deadly Russian Strikes Hit Kyiv on Eve of NATO Summit

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ballistic missiles were fired into the capital of Ukraine, as Russia launched its second major attack in less than a week. At least seven people were killed, officials said.

Explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early on Monday, the eve of a NATO summit, as Russia mounted its second major attack on the city in days.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who is expected to attend the NATO summit in Turkey, had warned that Russia was preparing “a new massive strike” against the capital.

Loud blasts shook the city hours later. The regional military administration said ballistic missiles were flying, and Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to stay in shelters.

Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, said that at least seven people had been killed. At least two dozen others were wounded. » | Cassandra Vinograd | Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine | Sunday, July 5, 2026

Russia Hammers Ukraine’s Capital in Deadly Attacks

THE NEW YORK TIMES: At least 18 people were killed in Kyiv, the local authorities said. Ukraine’s president had warned that Moscow was preparing a “massive strike” as Ukrainian forces have hit deeper into Russian territory.

The Russian military blasted Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with waves of ballistic missiles and drones that lasted into Thursday morning, a deadly show of force after weeks of Ukrainian attacks within Russia that have heaped pressure on President Vladimir V. Putin.

At least 18 people were killed and more than 30 injured in the attacks, Ukrainian officials said, as firefighters raced to extinguish blazes in several districts of the capital. Several apartment buildings were partially destroyed and an unknown number of people were trapped in the rubble, according to the local authorities.

The Russian barrage was the latest in the deadliest spring for Ukraine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022, as Ukrainian strikes prompt Mr. Putin to respond militarily. Ukraine has been bringing the war home to Russia by using long-range drones and cruise missiles to attack fuel facilities and military installations deep inside Russia and in occupied Crimea.

These attacks have caused widespread fuel shortages and have eroded Mr. Putin’s ability to insulate large parts of his country, including Moscow, the capital, from the war.

Ukraine’s strategy on the battlefield rests on forcing the Russian military to pay a heavy price for every mile of land it seizes while raising the economic costs for the Kremlin. Moscow believes it can outlast Kyiv’s outnumbered forces on the front while inflicting such a heavy human and economic toll that it breaks the will of civilians, according to Western military analysts.

In a statement on Thursday, Russia’s defense ministry called the strikes on Kyiv a response to Ukraine’s recent attacks inside Russia.

Many Kyiv residents had been bracing for a large-scale Russian assault in part because about two weeks had passed since the last one, giving Moscow time to stockpile missiles and drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had warned in recent days that Russia was preparing another “massive strike,” and he urged people to be “especially careful.” Live Updates » | Cassandra Vinograd | Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine | Thursday, July 2, 2026

À LIRE AUSSI :

« La pire attaque depuis le début de la guerre en Ukraine » : ce que l’on sait des frappes russes sur Kiev, qui ont fait au moins 17 morts : Le président ukrainien Volodymyr Zelensky avait indiqué mercredi après-midi depuis Dublin rentrer immédiatement à Kiev, disant craindre une attaque « de grande envergure » de la Russie. »

LESEN SIE AUCH:

Schwerster Angriff seit Kriegsbeginn: Russland überzieht Kiew mit Raketen und Drohnen: Russland hat in der Nacht mehrere ukrainische Städte mit Raketen, Marschflugkörpern und Drohnen angegriffen. In Kiew wurden Wohnhäuser zerstört, mindestens 18 Menschen kamen ums Leben. »

Russia Hits Kyiv with a Missile Nobody Can Stop – and Ukraine Knew It Was Coming | DW News

May 25, 2026 | Ukraine knew the attack was coming. President Zelenskyy warned publicly that intelligence had detected launch preparations. The US Embassy issued a security alert. Russia fired anyway – and nothing stopped it. We're asking former US ambassador William Courtney what the Oreshnik missile actually means for this war.

Prince Harry Delivers Message to Trump and Putin in Surprise Speech from Ukraine

Apr 23, 2026 | Prince Harry has issued a message directly to two presidents - Trump and Putin - about the war in Ukraine. He was speaking in Kyiv at the start of an unannounced visit in which he is meeting senior members of the Ukrainian military and some of the thousands of soldiers who have been seriously wounded in the conflict. …

Zelensky’s Top Aide Resigns Amid Widening Corruption Scandal

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff and top peace negotiator, became the highest-ranking casualty of an investigation into a vast kickback scheme.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, resigned on Friday in the highest-level political realignment in Ukraine since Russia’s all-out invasion nearly four years ago.

The departure of Mr. Yermak, who had headed Ukraine’s negotiating team in peace talks with the Trump administration, also put in doubt the future of the latest round of diplomatic efforts by the United States, Ukraine and European nations to end the war.

Mr. Yermak stepped down amid a spiraling, $100 million embezzlement scandal that has already led to the dismissal of two cabinet ministers and even threatened to topple Mr. Zelensky’s entire cabinet.

“I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine’s position in the negotiation track exactly as it should be represented,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video address announcing the resignation. He said he had accepted the resignation to “avoid rumors and speculation” about his chief of staff.

Mr. Yermak, 54, is the highest-level official to lose his job in the fallout from the 15-month investigation called Operation Midas, revealed by Ukraine’s top anti-corruption agencies, which said the effort had produced 1,000 hours of wiretaps.

Mr. Yermak has not been officially named in the investigation. But on Friday, investigators searched his home in Kyiv. » | Kim Barker and Andrew E. Kramer | Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine | Friday, November 28, 2025

Largest Russian Air Attack of War Sets Fire to Ukrainian Cabinet Building and Kills Three Including Child

THE GUARDIAN: Unclear if fire at main Ukrainian government building the result of a direct strike or falling debris

Russia’s largest overnight air attack of the war has set the main building of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv on fire and left three people dead, including an infant, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

Russia hit Ukraine’s capital with drones and missiles, injuring 18 people and setting scores of buildings on fire, including.

A plume of smoke was seen rising from the roof of Kyiv’s cabinet of ministers building, although it was not immediately clear if the smoke was the result of debris or a direct hit, which would mark an escalation in Russia’s air campaign. Russia has so far avoided targeting government buildings in the city centre.

The building is the home of Ukraine’s cabinet, housing the offices of its ministers. » | Guardian staff and agencies | Sunday, September 7, 2025

Ukraine : au moins cinq morts dans des frappes massives russes, le siège du gouvernement à Kiev endommagé : LE POINT SUR LA SITUATION - Kiev a été ciblée par des drones et des missiles et d’autres villes ukrainiennes ont été bombardés. C’est la plus grande attaque aérienne russe depuis le début du conflit, selon l’armée ukrainienne. »

Russian Missile and Drone Attack Pummels Kyiv, Killing at Least 6

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The assault came soon after President Trump threatened new sanctions against Moscow if the bloodshed didn’t let up.

Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital with a furious missile and drone attack before dawn on Thursday, killing at least six civilians in an assault that came soon after President Trump had warned Moscow of new sanctions if such violence persisted.

Rescuers raced to more than two dozen locations around the capital, Kyiv, to put out fires and search for survivors in the rubble of blasted apartment buildings.

“We have 52 injured, nearly 30 hospitalized,” Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city’s military administration, said in a statement at 7 a.m. local time. “Among them, nine children were injured.” One child was among the deceased.

The number of dead and wounded was likely to grow, Mr. Tkachenko warned.

The assault came shortly after President Trump threatened new sanctions on Moscow if President Vladimir V. Putin did not put a halt to the bloodshed in 10 days. Russian officials dismissed the warning, and many in Kyiv saw the bombardment as Mr. Putin’s way of thumbing his nose at the United States. » | Marc Santora | Reporting from Kyiv | Thursday, July 31, 2025

Russia Launches Record 550 Drones and Ballistic Missiles at Kyiv in Night-time Raid

THE GUARDIAN: Seven-hour assault prompts Ukraine to accuse Putin of humiliating Trump hours after the leaders spoke by phone

Ukraine has accused Vladimir Putin of “publicly humiliating” Donald Trump after Russia launched a devastating attack with a record number of drones and ballistic missiles on Kyiv, hours after the two leaders spoke by phone.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the seven-hour raid as a “deliberate act of terror” which “immediately followed the call between Washington and Moscow”. It was one of the most severe assaults of the entire war and a “clear interpretation of how Moscow interprets diplomacy”, he added.

The sustained and coordinated night-time attack involved more than 550 Russian drones and ballistic missiles – a record. Families in Kyiv spent the night in metro stations, basements and underground parking garages. » | Luke Harding in Kyiv | Friday, July 4, 2025

U.S. Closes Its Kyiv Embassy, Warning of ‘Significant Air Attack’

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The unusual alert came a day after Ukraine used American-made ballistic missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time.

The United States Embassy in Kyiv issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning that Russia might launch “a significant air attack,” closing the embassy and telling employees to shelter in place.

Air-raid alerts are a daily fact of life in Ukraine and the capital often comes under drone and missile attacks, but the embassy rarely issues such a specific alert or shuts down.

The warning came one day after Ukraine’s military used American-made ballistic missiles to strike into Russian territory for the first time, after receiving long-sought authorization from President Biden to do so. The Kremlin had long warned that such strikes would be treated as an escalation, and on Tuesday vowed to respond.

“We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia,” Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei V. Lavrov, said at a news conference on Tuesday. “And we will react accordingly.” » | Marc Santora | Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine | Wednesday, November 20, 2024

THE NEW YORK TIMES: As Trump Pushes Peace, Russia Intensifies Assaults on Ukraine: Overextended and exhausted, Ukrainian forces lack manpower and artillery against Russian forces willing to absorb staggering casualties. »

Ukraine War: EU Ministers Meet in Kyiv Following US Funding Concerns - BBC News

Oct 2, 2023 | European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Kyiv in a show of support following signs Western resolve may be wavering.

The European Union’s most senior diplomat, Josep Borrell, has told the BBC that he is worried by the US’ decision not to include new support for Ukraine in a short-term funding deal.

The temporary measure, pushed through to avert a government shutdown, did not include $6bn (£4.92bn) in military aid for Kyiv - a top White House priority.

President Joe Biden has said the US will continue to support Ukraine.

Russian Forces Launch Overnight Drone Attacks on Kyiv

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The assault was the first pre-dawn drone barrage to target the Ukrainian capital in almost two weeks, officials said.

Sweeping up debris after an apartment building was hit by a Russian drone that was shot down in May by Ukrainian defenses in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. | Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
Russian forces launched a wave of drone attacks on Ukraine’s capital before dawn on Sunday for the first time in nearly two weeks, according to Ukrainian officials.

Air-raid alarms sounded around 2:30 a.m. in the capital, Kyiv. Explosions were later reported.

Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, said that air defenses had destroyed all of the drones in Kyiv’s airspace. It was the first time in 12 days that Russian forces had used Iranian-made attack drones to target the capital, he said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

No one was killed, but debris from downed drones damaged three homes in the Kyiv region, according to the local military administration in a statement on Telegram. A man suffered a leg injury in one of those homes, it added. » | Cassandra Vinograd, Reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine | Sunday, July 2, 2023

My Next Guest with David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Official Clip | Netflix

Dec 7, 2022 | David Letterman travels to Kyiv, Ukraine for an in-depth conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a secret underground bunker.

Lire l’article « du Monde » ici.

Ukraine War: Explosions Rock Ukrainian Capital Kyiv and Other Cities | DW News

Steinmeier's Visit to Kyiv 'Not Wanted' | DW News

Apr 13, 2022 • German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday said a proposed trip to Kyiv had been rejected by the Ukrainian leadership.

Steinmeier had been planning to make a joint visit to Ukraine with Polish President Andrzej Duda and their Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts "a strong signal of joint European solidarity with Ukraine."

But "that apparently wasn't wanted in Kyiv" Steinmeier said while visiting the Polish capital Warsaw.

Ukraine has previously been highly critical of the German president over his connections with Russia and the leading role he played as former foreign minister in improving relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Ukrainekrieg: Selenskyj will Steinmeier nicht empfangen »

Zelensky Spokesman Describes Heartbreaking Scenes in Ukraine

Read the article here.

The Battle for Kyiv Looms as a Long and Bloody Conflict

Ukrainian security forces at a fortified checkpoint next to a market that provides food, shelter and medical care for up to 5,000 soldiers and the needy around northern Kyiv.
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Ukraine’s capital is the biggest prize of all for the Russian military. If Russia tries to take control, it could lead to one of the biggest urban conflicts since World War II.

KYIV, Ukraine — The city of Kyiv covers 325 square miles and is divided by a broad river. It has about 500,000 structures — factories, ornate churches and high-rise apartments — many on narrow, winding streets. Roughly two million people remain after extensive evacuations of women and children.

To the northwest and to the east, tens of thousands of Russian troops are pressing toward the city, Ukraine’s capital, backed by columns of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery. Inside Kyiv, Ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers are fortifying the downtown with barriers, anti-tank mines and artillery.

Kyiv remains the biggest prize of all for the Russian military; it is the seat of government and ingrained in both Russian and Ukrainian identity. But capturing it, military analysts say, would require a furious and bloody conflict that could be the world’s biggest urban battle in 80 years.

“What we are looking at in Kyiv would dwarf anything we’ve seen since World War II,” said David Kilcullen, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Australian Army who has extensively studied urban combat. “If they really, really want to level Kyiv, they can,” he said of the Russian leadership. “But the level of political and economic damage would be tremendous.” » | Andrew E. Kramer; Photographs: Lynsey Addario | Saturday, March 19, 2022

Brent Renaud, First US Reporter Killed in Ukraine, Praised for Exposing Horrors of War

Mar 14, 2022 • On Sunday, the U.S. journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud was shot dead near Kyiv while working on a documentary about refugees. He is the first foreign journalist known to have been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Ukrainian officials are accusing Russian forces of his death. We discuss Renaud’s remarkable documentary work and feature part of an interview he gave on Democracy Now! after he was embedded in Iraq with the National Guard from his home state of Arkansas. We are joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ann Marie Lipinski, who got to know both Renaud and photographer Juan Arredondo during their time as fellows at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, which Lipinski curates. “Brent was a very, very special journalist, yes, but also person,” says Lipinski. “He just brought a very, very rare humanity and patience to the work.” We also hear from Cora Weiss, former board of directors chair of Downtown Community Television, where Brent and his brother Craig started their filmmaking career in the same former firehouse building that housed Democracy Now! for over a decade. “He shouldn’t have been killed,” says Weiss. “Brent was terribly important as an educator for all Americans to understand the horrors of war and the unnecessary expense in life.” Carlos Martínez de la Serna of the Committee to Protect Journalists says Renaud’s killing amounts to a war crime.

Kyiv ‘Ready to Fight’ as Russian Forces Close In Ukraine Capital

THE GUARDIAN: Ukrainian president warns of ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ as hundreds of thousands of civilians remain under fire across country

A Ukrainian army tank on a Kyiv street as Russian troops inch towards the capital. Photograph: Jonathan Alpeyrie/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock
Ukrainian officials have said Kyiv is “ready to fight” as Russian forces renewed their bombardment on the capital and observers warned of “an unimaginable tragedy” unfolding after more than two weeks of war.

Air raid sirens and shelling rang out over Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning amid warnings from western defence officials that the Russians were beginning to gain ground around the capital.

There were reports of loud explosions in Dnipro in the country’s east on Saturday, as well as Mykolaiv, Nikolaev and Kropyvnytskyi.

But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the capital was “ready to fight”. He called it a “city under siege”, with checkpoints prepared and supply lines in place. “Kyiv will stand until the end.”

Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies on Saturday has shown homes and buildings on fire and Russian artillery battalions appearing to fire on towns surrounding to the north-west of the Ukrainian capital as forces advance. The Guardian has not independently verified the images. » | Tess McClure, Peter Beaumont and Luke Harding in Lviv | Saturday, March 12, 2022

Russian Military Moves into Firing Positions around Ukraine Capital Kyiv - BBC News

Mar 11, 2022 • The Russian military convoy that had been outside Kyiv appears to be on manoeuvers, taking up positions around towns near Kyiv.

US officials say that Russian forces have moved closer to Kyiv in the last 24 hours in what could be a renewed push.

More people are leaving their homes as fears grow of use of chemical weapons. At the same time volunteers are arriving in Kyiv to help fight the Russian invasion.

Ukraine: Russian Forces Attack Civilians Near Kyiv, as Mauripol Evacuation Halted for Second Time

Mar 6, 2022 • Warning: There are distressing scenes from the beginning of this report.

They were trying to escape the wreckage of what was once their homes when they came under direct attack.

In Irpin, just outside Kyiv, at least three members of a family - including children - were killed.

To the south, renewed Russian shelling forced the Red Cross to abandon a second attempt to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.

President Zelenskyy appealed to the West again to enforce a no-fly zone, something they have refused to do, but today US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said they have given the green light to Nato countries to provide fighter jets to Ukraine.


Time for the West to Grow a Spine!