‘The doors were blown out instantly’ — Russia bombards Kyiv with missiles, drones, killing 7
Ukrainian rescuers work at a damaged residential building following Russian missile and drone strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Nov. 25, 2025. (Oleksii Filippov / AFP via Getty Images)
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated as new information emerges.
Russia launched a large-scale attack against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Nov. 25, targeting critical infrastructure and residential neighborhoods with Shahed drones and Kinzhal ballistic missiles.
At least seven people in Kyiv have been killed and 20 others, including a child, were injured, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. The full extent of the casualties and damage is still being investigated.
Ukraine's Energy Ministry described Russia's overnight assault as "a massive combined attack" on energy infrastructure, striking energy facilities in Kyiv, as well as in the Kyiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv oblasts.
During the night, the Air Force announced a missile threat across the entire country after MiG-31 bombers were recorded taking off from Russian airfields. Hours later, as emergency crews were still putting out fires and searching for victims of the overnight attack, the launch of Russian MiG-31s triggered another nationwide ballistic missile alert. Klitschko reported power and water disruptions in some of the capital's districts at around 1:40 a.m.
"I heard a whistle for a split second and then a huge blast just three meters from our balcony."
Kyrylo Chyrkov, who lives with his girlfriend and a cat at an apartment building in the Dniprovskyi district that was struck, said the blast immediately woke him up.
"I heard a whistle for a split second and then a huge blast just three meters from our balcony, the doors were blown out instantly," Chyrkov told the Kyiv Independent, explaining how it wasn't clear at first whether it was his building that was hit, blinded by the smoke.
Chyrkov said it was completely dark on the seventh floor, where he lives, and he had to run through the burning sixth floor with his girlfriend and a cat. He believes that no one from the floors above was able to flee before the rescuers arrived.
"I’m usually calm in emergencies, but this time even I froze," Chyrkov said. "Everything we did was pure instinct."
Liudmyla, who declined to give her last name and lives in a building nearby, said the explosions have been constant even before the Nov. 25 attack, but she usually doesn't go to a shelter since disrupted sleep affects her work the next day.
"We’ve already adapted and treat this as part of our daily routine," Liudmyla told the Kyiv Independent, but added that she should probably reconsider going to a shelter since the Russian attacks keep hitting close to her home.
Vadym Tupchii, a well-known stage designer and prop maker who designed the noses for the Ukrainian comedy TV show series The Dovhonosyky Show (The Long-Noses Show in Ukrainian), was among the victims killed in the overnight Russian attack, his friend, Tymur Bobrovskyy, wrote on Facebook.
"Extremely creative and talented, intelligent and ironic, a brilliant master," Bobrovskyy said of his late friend, Tupchii.
"Ten days ago, we had dinner together, talked, and sang in warm company in the middle of another Kyiv blackout. And said goodbye, as if it were for a moment," he added.
In the Pecherskyi district, several multistory apartment buildings were damaged and caught fire, Klitschko said. Earlier, Kyiv Independent journalists reported drone activity in the neighborhood.
One of the targets was a 22-story apartment building, which sustained damage to multiple floors.
A 9-story residential building in the Dniprovskyi district also caught fire, leading to injuries and emergency rescue operations. Two people were killed, including an 86-year-old woman. The fire on site has been localized and rescue workers are still searching for more victims who may be trapped in the building, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
A garage in the district also caught fire, authorities said.
"Russia will not ease the pressure on us, on Ukraine, on our people."
The city woke up to another air raid alert, as the Air Force warned that Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were bound for Kyiv. In the morning, Klitschko reported that a non-residential building in the Sviatoshynskyi district was damaged and that people may be trapped beneath the rubble. Emergency services are heading to the scene, he said.
At least four people were killed and three others injured in the morning strike on the Sviatoshnyskyi district, Tkachenko said.
Klitschko reported at around 12:40 p.m. that the rescuers found the body of a man under the rubble in the Desnyanskyi district.
Outside the capital, the Russian attack targeted homes and apartments in Kyiv Oblast, triggering emergency evacuations. Four houses in the town of Bila Tserkva were "completely destroyed," the State Emergency Service reported. A 14-year-old was injured.
Missile and drone activity was also reported in other regions, including Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv oblasts.
The Energy Ministry reported that more than 40,000 people in Kyiv Oblast, 20,000 in southern Odesa Oblast, 13,000 in northern Chernihiv Oblast, more than 21,000 in central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and more than 8,000 in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast were left without power this morning.
One drone Russian drone likely crossed the border into Romania during the attack, the Air Force said.
Russia regularly launches mass attacks on Ukrainian cities. In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks on energy infrastructure in an attempt to plunge Ukraine into another harsh winter.
The relentless campaign against Ukraine's critical facilities and heating systems has been linked to the current U.S. push for Kyiv to accept a peace plan that largely favors Russia.
"It's a cold winter and a lot of the big energy-producing plants have been under attack, to put it mildly, to put it nicely," U.S. President Donald Trump said on Nov. 21.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also warned the Ukrainian people to expect continued attacks amid the ongoing peace negotiations — and urged international partners to take note of Russia's disregard for diplomacy.
"We must also be aware that Russia will not ease the pressure on us, on Ukraine, on our people," Zelensky said hours before Russia launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv.
"These days, these weeks, we must be very attentive to air raid alerts and all similar threats of attack. We understand exactly who we are dealing with ... And it would be fair for all our partners — and above all for the American side — to take into account the threat that ... if we are really ending the war, then there should be no missiles, no massive strikes on Ukraine, on our people."
