Russian Strikes Kill 14 in Kyiv, Including Three Children, as Moscow Rejects Ceasefire Talks
Russian strikes kill 14, including 3 children, in Kyiv as Moscow rejects ceasefire talks. Ukraine says 629 drones/missiles were used in one of the war's largest barrages. Zelensky condemns it as a "deliberate killing of civilians."
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – At least 14 people, including three children, were killed in a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Thursday, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned as a deliberate massacre of civilians and a rejection of peace negotiations.
The assault, one of the deadliest on the capital since the war began in February 2022, left entire apartment blocks destroyed and underscored the widening gulf between Moscow’s rhetoric on negotiations and its relentless bombardment.
According to Ukrainian officials, the strikes blasted a massive five-storey crater into a residential block, tearing the building in two. Rescuers were seen carrying bodies in black bags as heavy construction machinery cleared smouldering rubble.
“Glass was flying ... we were screaming when the bombs went off,” said Galina Shcherbak to AFP, who was near one of the strikes. Others recalled fleeing to subway stations, where residents huddled in sleeping bags clutching their pets.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Moscow fired 629 drones and missiles in the overnight barrage, the second largest in scale since the full-scale invasion began.
“What kind of target is there in the center of Kyiv?” asked Valery Savenko, whose apartment was severely damaged.
Russia’s defense ministry insisted the strikes were aimed at military-industrial sites and airbases, carried out with hypersonic, ballistic, and cruise missiles as well as Iranian-designed Shahed drones.
“Overnight, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a group strike ... against military-industrial complex enterprises and military airbases in Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
But images from Kyiv told a different story: residential blocks reduced to rubble, civilians killed, and the European Union mission’s office left gutted with shattered windows and debris strewn across its floors.
EU Council chief Antonio Costa posted images from inside the mission’s damaged offices, calling the attack a clear escalation against civilian and diplomatic facilities.
In his response, Zelensky described the strike as “a horrific and deliberate killing of civilians.”
“The Russians are not choosing to end the war, only new strikes,” he said in a post, urging a tougher response from allies, including fresh sanctions on Moscow.
“For the spurning of ceasefire and for the constant Russian attempts to weasel out of negotiations, new strong sanctions are needed,” he added.
The Ukrainian president also called on China and Hungary—two countries accused of shielding Moscow diplomatically—to take a tougher stance, warning that “all deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined.”
“Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war,” Zelensky declared.
The attack came just hours after the Kremlin dismissed the prospect of a direct summit between Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin.
Moscow has demanded that Kyiv cede additional territory and abandon Western military support as conditions for any peace deal—terms Kyiv has flatly rejected.
Putin’s spokesman also rejected the idea of a European peacekeeping force, which Ukraine sees as essential to deter future Russian aggression.
Despite repeated calls for a ceasefire from Zelensky, U.S. President Donald Trump, and European leaders, Russia continues to expand its battlefield operations, slowly advancing with superior manpower and weaponry.
Ukraine said it had launched its own overnight drone attacks on two large refineries inside Russia, framing the strikes as fair retaliation for Moscow’s assault on Kyiv.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed to have downed 102 Ukrainian drones, without providing details of damage on its own territory.
The destruction in Kyiv, coupled with Moscow’s rejection of negotiations, underscored the deepening impasse. While Ukraine insists on security guarantees from Western allies before any settlement, Russia continues to demand concessions that Kyiv sees as an existential threat.
For ordinary Ukrainians, Thursday’s strikes were yet another reminder of the war’s heavy toll.
“They’re just bombing residential buildings,” said Savenko, standing in the ruins of his damaged home. “There was nothing military here—only families.”
