Russia's overnight rocket and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital have killed at least 13 people, including a six-year-old child, and injured 132 civilians, official sources confirm.
According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, a five-month-old girl is among the 14 minors injured.
Open-source information available to The Associated Press indicates that this is a record number of children injured in a single attack on Kyiv in three years of full-scale military conflict.
The head of the city military administration, Timur Tkachenko, reported that as a result of the shelling, a partial collapse of a nine-story residential complex occurred.
Rescuers carried out search operations to find people trapped under the rubble.
A 35-year-old resident of the damaged building, Yana Zhabborova, said she was awakened by the sounds of powerful explosions that caused the destruction of windows and doors in her apartment.
“It’s a state of stress and shock that there’s nothing left,” said the woman, who is raising a five-month-old and a five-year-old child.
The Ukrainian Air Force recorded the launch of 309 Shahid attack drones, decoys and eight Iskander-K cruise missiles overnight. According to them, 288 drones and three missiles were destroyed by air defense systems, while five missiles and 21 drones reached the targets.
The head of the Donetsk regional administration, Vadim Filashkin, reported a Russian attack on a five-story residential building in Kramatorsk in the east of the country.
The incident left one person dead and at least 11 civilians injured.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of 32 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours.
Penza Region Governor Oleg Melnichenko reported a fire at an industrial plant following a drone attack, noting that there were no casualties.
In the Volgograd region, train traffic has been temporarily suspended due to fragments of a drone falling onto the railway tracks, as indicated by the operator Russian Railways.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also announced the establishment of full control over the strategically important settlement of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk region.
Fighting for the city, which sits on high ground that allows it to control key points in the region, has been going on for about 18 months.
Ukrainian military spokesman Viktor Tregubov denied Russia's claims in a comment to the Associated Press.
“This is a fabrication, the situation hasn’t even changed,” he said.
The Ukrainian General Staff on Thursday reported seven armed clashes in Chasovy Yar in the past 24 hours. According to the attached map, most of the city is controlled by Russian forces.
A DeepState open source map used by military experts showed on Thursday morning that areas south and west of Chasov Yar remain disputed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the main targets of the drone attacks at night were the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Sumy and Mykolaiv regions.
According to Tkachenko, the shock wave affected 27 settlements in the Kyiv region, with the greatest destruction in the Solomensky and Svyatoshinsky districts. More than 100 buildings were damaged in the capital, including educational institutions, hospitals and residential complexes.
“Today, the world has once again witnessed Russia's reaction to our desire for partnership with America and Europe,” Zelensky said. “New demonstrative murders. Therefore, force remains the only guarantee of security.”
He called on international partners to fulfill their defense commitments and increase pressure on Moscow to intensify the negotiation process.
The administration of US President Donald Trump has set August 7 as the deadline for Russia to advance peace initiatives, threatening tough sanctions if it fails to comply.
Western politicians accuse Vladimir Putin of deliberately delaying negotiations in order to annex additional Ukrainian territories.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
