By VASILISA STEPANENKO and SAMYA KULLAB, Related Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Kyiv with an hourslong barrage of missiles and drones, killing at the least 9 folks and injuring greater than 70 in its deadliest assault on the Ukrainian capital since final July and simply as peace efforts are coming to a head.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated after the assault he’s chopping brief his official journey to South Africa and returning house as the town reeled from the bombardment that stored residents on edge for about 11 hours. It seemed to be Russia’s largest assault on Kyiv in 9 months, and Zelenskyy branded it as “one in every of (Russia’s) most outrageous.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko introduced that Friday could be an official day of mourning day within the capital.
The Ukrainian air drive stated Russia fired 66 ballistic and cruise missiles, 4 plane-launched air-to-surface missiles, and 145 Shahed and decoy drones at Kyiv and 4 different areas of Ukraine. Rescue staff with flashlights scoured the charred rubble of partly collapsed properties because the blue lights of emergency autos lit up the darkish metropolis streets.
The assault got here as weeks of peace negotiations seemed to be culminating with out an settlement in sight and hours after U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy, accusing him of prolonging the “killing area” by refusing to give up the Russia-occupied Crimea Peninsula as a part of a doable deal.
Zelenskyy says way forward for negotiations is determined by Moscow
Zelenskyy has repeated many instances through the greater than three-year struggle that recognizing occupied territory as Russian is a crimson line for his nation. He famous Thursday that Ukraine had agreed to a U.S. ceasefire proposal 44 days in the past, as a primary step to a negotiated peace, however that Russia’s assaults had continued.
He stated in South Africa that the newest assault meant the way forward for negotiations “is determined by Russia’s intention as a result of it’s in Moscow the place they must decide.”
Whereas talks have been happening in latest weeks, Russia has hit the town of Sumy, killing greater than 30 civilians gathered to have fun Palm Sunday, battered Odesa with drones and blasted Zaporizhzhia with highly effective glide bombs.
The European Union’s overseas coverage chief, Kaja Kallas, stated the assault underscored that the principle impediment to ending the struggle is Russia.
“Whereas claiming to hunt peace, Russia launched a lethal airstrike on Kyiv,” she wrote on social media. “This isn’t a pursuit of peace, it’s a mockery of it.”
Senior U.S. officers have warned that the Trump administration might quickly quit its efforts to cease the struggle if the 2 sides don’t compromise.
Ukrainian Overseas Minister Andrii Sybiha stated the assault confirmed Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to press his greater military’s benefit on the roughly 620-mile entrance line, the place it at present holds the momentum.
“Putin demonstrates by his actions, not phrases, that he doesn’t respect any peace efforts and solely needs to proceed the struggle,” Sybiha stated on X. “Weak spot and concessions won’t cease his terror and aggression. Solely power and strain will.”
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal famous that since Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Russian assaults haves killed some 13,000 civilians, together with 618 kids.
Kyiv residents spent the night time in shelters
At the least 42 folks had been hospitalized following the assault on residential suburbs of Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service stated.
At a Kyiv residential constructing that was nearly fully destroyed, emergency staff eliminated rubble with their palms, rescuing a trapped lady who emerged from the wreckage lined in white mud and moaning in ache.
A girl sits in a faculty basement getting used as a shelter after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evgeniy Maloletka)
1 of 23
A girl sits in a faculty basement getting used as a shelter after a Russian airstrike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evgeniy Maloletka)
An aged lady sat in opposition to a brick wall, face smeared with blood, her eyes mounted to the bottom in shock as medics tended to her wounds.
Fires had been reported in a number of residential buildings stated Tymur Tkachenko, the pinnacle of the town navy administration.
The assault, which started round 1 a.m., hit at the least 5 neighborhoods in Kyiv.
Oksana Bilozir, a pupil, suffered a head damage within the assault. With blood seeping from her bandaged head, she stated that she heard a loud explosion after the air alarm blared and started to seize her issues to flee to a shelter when one other blast triggered her house’s partitions to crumble and the lights to go off.
“I actually don’t even understand how it will all finish, it’s very scary,” stated Bilozir, referring to the struggle in opposition to Russia’s invasion. “I solely consider that if we are able to cease them on the battlefield, then that’s it. No diplomacy works right here.”
The assault stored many individuals awake all night time lengthy as a number of loud explosions reverberated across the metropolis and flashes of sunshine punctuated the sky. Households gathered in public air raid shelters, a few of them bringing their pet cat and canine.
Zelenskyy getting back from South Africa
Zelenskyy stated in a Telegram publish that he would fly again to Kyiv after assembly with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Ukrainian chief had hoped to recruit additional South African help in efforts to finish his nation’s struggle with Russia, now in its fourth 12 months.
The U.N. Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated the Kyiv assault was “one more appalling violation of worldwide humanitarian legislation.”
“Civilians must not ever be targets. This mindless use of drive should cease,” it stated in a press release.
Anastasiia Zhuravlova, 33, a mom of two, was sheltering in a basement after a number of blasts broken her house. Her household was sleeping when the primary explosion shattered their home windows and despatched kitchen home equipment flying within the air. Shards of glass rained down on them as they rushed to take cowl within the hall.
“After that we got here to the shelter as a result of it was scary and harmful at house,” she stated.
In Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district, the assault flattened a two-story residential constructing and closely broken close by multi-story buildings. Rescue work continued by the morning.
At a close-by school-turned-relief middle, kids helped dad and mom cowl blown-out home windows with plastic whereas others queued for presidency compensation. Many stood in blood-stained garments, nonetheless shaken.
Related Press journalist Michelle Gumede in Pretoria, South Africa contributed to this report.
Initially Printed:
