Kyiv, Ukraine — A massive Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital early Thursday, including a rare strike in the center of the city, killed at least 12 people and wounded some 48, local authorities said.
It was the first major Russian combined attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S.-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction.
Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of different types across the country, according to Ukraine’s Air Force, making it one of the war’s biggest air attacks. Ukraine’s forces shot down and neutralized all but 41 of them, its Air Force said.
Firefighters work at the site of a burning building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 28, 2025. / Credit: Efrem Lukatsky / AP
Among the dead were two children, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said, citing preliminary information. The numbers were expected to rise. Rescue teams were on site to pull out people trapped underneath the rubble.
“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X following the attack. “We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions.”
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday it shot down 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in the country’s southwest. A drone attack sparked a blaze at the Afipsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, local officials said, while a second fire was reported at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region.
Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks in an attempt to weaken Russia’s war economy, causing gas stations in some Russian regions to run dry and prices to spike.
Moscow denies targeting civilians but has increased strikes in the last few months on cities and towns a long way from the war’s front lines.
Russia launched decoy drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. At least 20 locations across seven districts of Kyiv were impacted. Nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a shopping mall, and thousands of windows were shattered, he said.
A man embraces a child as they stand at the site of buildings hit by Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine on August 28, 2025. / Credit: Alina Smutko / REUTERS
Russian strikes hit the central part of Kyiv, one of the few times Russian attacks have reached the heart of the city since the start of the full-scale invasion. Residents cleared shattered glass and debris from damaged buildings.
Smoke billowed from the crumbled column of a five-story residential building in the Darnytskyi district that suffered a direct hit. An acrid stench of burning material wafted in the air as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.
Amid the destruction, emergency responders searched for survivors and extracted bodies. Crowds of residents stood nearby, waiting for relatives to be retrieved from the rubble. Bodies in black bags were placed at the side of the building.
Residents in the neighborhood said it wasn’t the first time their district was targeted.
Oleksandr Khilko arrived at the scene after a missile hit the residential building where his sister lives. He heard screams from people who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors, including a boy.
“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” he said, his clothes covered in dust and the tips of his fingers black with soot. “With every cell of my body I want this war to end as soon as possible. I wait, but every time the air raid alarm sounds, I am afraid.”
Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported damage to its infrastructure in the Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, causing delays and forcing trains to use alternative routes.
Ukraine’s national power grid operator said Russia’s attack damaged facilities in several regions, prompting local power cuts, the Reuters news agency reported. An attack on critical infrastructure in the Vinnytsia region cut power to tens of thousands of customers, regional officials said.
Thursday’s attack is the first major combined Russian mass drone and missile attack to strike Kyiv since President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier this month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
While a diplomatic push for peace appeared to gain momentum shortly after that meeting, few details have emerged about next steps.
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian military leaders conceded Russian forces have broken into an eighth region of Ukraine seeking to capture more ground.
Zelenskyy hopes for harsher U.S. sanctions to cripple the Russian economy if Putin doesn’t demonstrate seriousness about ending the war. He reiterated those demands following Thursday’s attack.
“All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,” Zelenskyy said.
Mr. Trump bristled this week at Putin’s stalling on an American proposal for direct peace talks with Zelenskyy. He said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.
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