Russia pounds Kyiv in major ballistic missile attack

A series of powerful explosions thundered across the darkened city in an attack that involved 41 missiles of various types and ravaged buildings across several districts.

Residential buildings, warehouses, a supermarket and a dormitory were among the structures damaged, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, adding that three people were in a serious condition.

At one location in western Kyiv, emergency workers picked through smoldering debris and doused bombed-out apartments.

A resident who identified himself as Vlad told Reuters he had been inside his apartment when a blast tore off his balcony door, which smashed him in the head.

“My grandmother lives with me, and she can’t walk. How could I run away and leave her behind?” he said.

Closer to the city center, the strikes destroyed an underground pedestrian passage near a frequently targeted metro station, leaving a pile of rubble.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region bordering Russia, three people were killed and 16 wounded in a separate strike on a suburb outside the capital, the regional governor said.

Russian forces also struck a rehabilitation centre in the neighboring region of Sumy, said acting Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

Last week, Zelenskyy said the U.S. and Ukraine have reached a political agreement on licenses to make Patriot interceptor missiles. He added that he hoped production could begin by the end of the year.

But the mounting Russian attacks in the fifth year of Moscow’s full-scale war are heaping pressure on Kyiv’s foreign partners to accelerate supply of anti-ballistic defenses.

“Protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and top priority right now,” Zelenskyy said on X on Sunday. “Interceptors are needed every day.”