Russian waves of missiles and drones struck Kyiv early Monday, killing at least 11 people and injuring 46, authorities said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that "as of now, it has been confirmed that, tragically, eleven people were killed in this attack" and that 64 people have been rescued, including two children, adding that damage had been reported at more than 10 locations across the capital.
Emergency workers combed through rubble at residential high-rise buildings after direct hits, including a building that partially collapsed in the Podilskyi district and several multistory buildings damaged in the Darnytsia district where people were believed to be trapped, Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's City Military Administration, said on Telegram.
Residents described chaotic scenes. "When we were leaving the building, bodies were lying there," said Khrystyna Piatetska, 20, of the Darnytskyi district, and Halina Ivanivna, 61, said she woke to the first strike at about 2 a.m. and a second hit about five minutes later as her apartment building began to collapse.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight and that 29 ballistic missiles struck their targets, with all of the ballistic missiles launched by Russia striking their targets, a development officials said underscored Kyiv’s shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles.
Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television, "To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception," and Zelenskyy pleaded for more air defenses from the United States and European partners, warning that failing to replenish interceptors encourages Russia to keep striking residential buildings.
The attack came ahead of Tuesday's NATO summit, and Zelenskyy said at least two dozen ballistic missiles got past air defense systems and struck Kyiv.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Ukraine urgently needed more air defense and that she would discuss it in Ankara, accusing Russia of having "blindly attacked civilians from the air" and saying Europe would "keep increasing the pressure until Russia ends the bloodshed."
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, sea drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities that repair air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure; those claims could not be independently verified.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also said air defenses downed 519 Ukrainian drones overnight. An energy provider in Russia-occupied Crimea reported a blackout caused by an "external impact," and the Moscow-appointed head of Sevastopol said power was later restored using backup equipment. Yaroslavl region Gov. Mikhail Yavrayev said two people were wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on that city and that more than 70 Ukrainian drones were downed as they attacked.