Russian missiles, drones pound Kyiv overnight; at least 4 killed, 44 injured as rescue efforts continue

Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Explosions from dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones rocked Kyiv overnight on May 14, as Russia's latest mass attack on Ukraine partially destroyed a large apartment building.

As of 12 a.m. local time, four people have been confirmed killed, and another 44 injured, according to statements from city police and Kyiv mayor Vitalii Klitschko.

In a residential area on the eastern bank of the city, first responders' work is ongoing in and around a large pile of rubble, where 11 people have already been rescued.

Meanwhile, another seven were injured in Kyiv Oblast, including a child, the State Emergency Service reported.

Fifty-six missiles of various types, including Iskander ballistic and Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, were launched in the overnight attack, as well as 675 one-way attack drones, according to Ukraine's Air Force.

Twenty-nine X-101 cruise missiles, 12 Iskander or S-400 missiles, and 652 of the drones were shot down or jammed before reaching the target.

The attack began just before before 1 a.m., a nationwide aerial alert was issued, warning that Russia had launched MiG-31 bombers and that every region in the country was now at risk of ballistic missile strikes.

Tkachenko later warned that many Russian drones were headed toward the capital and that missile strikes were also a possible threat.

The first explosions were heard in Kyiv around 3 a.m. local time as air defense began engaging Russian drones, before the first ballistic missiles began arriving a few minutes later.

In the Darnytskyi district, structural components of a residential building collapsed, and people were trapped underneath, according to preliminary reports, Klitschko said.

"Eighteen apartments have been destroyed. A rescue and search operation is ongoing. According to preliminary information, 11 people have been rescued from the building," Klitschko said.

Watching the rescue work at the scene, IT workers Tivan Khachatryan and Karolina Koshletska initially though it was their, adjacent building that was hit.

"After the explosion, people started to yell, scream" Khachatryan recalled, "the first instinct which you get, is to think that it's your building which was hit, but soon we heard that the building which was hit was the one which is next to us.

"You don't feel happy that it was not yours, but you just feel shock. You don't feel better at all, you just feel the same way, emptiness inside yourself.

Pensioner Serhii Yatsura, already displaced from his village because of Russia's war, had walked out to his window right when the missile struck the building opposite.

"I saw the missile flying, it hit around the third floor," he said.

"I was thrown back, everything was broken. Everything was burning, people were screaming downstairs. You could hear them screaming."

Following the Russian attack, running water has been disrupted in the eastern part (left-bank) of Kyiv, Klitschko reported.

Fallen drone debris also sparked a fire on the roof of a five-story residential building in the Dniprovskyi district, and debris fell onto a road in the Holosiivskyi district, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported.

A car was set on fire by Russian drone debris in the Solomianskyi district, Tkachenko said, while drone debris fell on an office building, a parking structure, and a fire erupted at a 12-story residential building after it was struck by drone debris in the Obolonskyi district, Klitschko reported.

The mass missile attack followed a day of relentless Russian drone strikes across the country.

In the afternoon of May 13, Russian forces carried out a prolonged combined attack on Ukraine's critical and civilian infrastructure, launching at least 800 drones in several waves. The strike targeted cities across Ukraine, including far-western regions rarely impacted by direct attacks.

The daytime attacks killed at least 14 people and injured over 80 others, including children and teens. First responders were also injured in "double-tap" strikes.

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia could follow the drone waves with missile strikes to overwhelm Ukraine's air defense and inflict "as much grief and pain as possible."

The warning was based on information from Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, which said Russian forces were planning to continue the attack with a significant number of air- and sea-launched cruise missiles, as well as ballistic missiles.

Kremlin targets could include critical infrastructure and essential services in major cities, including energy facilities, defense industry enterprises, and government buildings, the agency said.