Russia fired missiles and drones into apartment buildings in Kyiv for the second time in a week on Monday, killing at least 14 people on the eve of a crucial NATO summit, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the alliance to take “strong decisions” on boosting Ukraine’s air defenses following the strike, which came just days after another Russian attack killed more than 30 people in Kyiv.
The European Union also said that Ukraine needs air defense reinforcements.
The morning strike punched a crater into a multi-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian capital, ripping its top floors into two.
AFP reporters heard more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert during the night, with flashes in the sky as the blasts rang out.
It was the second attack in a week in which Russia deployed the hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles — triggering Zelensky’s desperate new appeal for allies to send advanced missiles for the US-made Patriot air defence systems.
He is to discuss the war with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, which begins Tuesday.
“It is critically important that the world –- first and foremost the United States and our European partners –- come out of the NATO Summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense, and thus the protection of ordinary people’s lives,” he said on social media.
At least 14 people were killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region, with around 60 more wounded, he said.
Russia fired 68 missiles and 351 attack drones, he added.
Officials in the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve said they were evacuating residents due to the possibility of unexploded munitions in the debris.
Locals in the northern Podilsky district of the capital said their area had been targeted heavily in recent Russian strikes.
“At 1:30 am, a powerful hit occurred. A blast wave, all the windows blew out. And then it hit three more times,” Oleksandr Bakhlukov, who lives in a nearby building, told AFP.
“Glass was falling down. There wasn’t a single pane of glass left in the apartment,” the 68-year-old added.
