'The Russians have no conscience' — Ukraine hit by yet another mass drone, missile attack, 1 killed, 9 injured in Kyiv

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

President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 21 condemned yet another overnight mass Russian missile and drone strike on Ukraine that killed two and injured nine others as "an assault on humanity."

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 450 drones and missiles during the attack, which lasted several hours, with Kyiv, the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kharkiv badly hit.

"Russian strikes are always an assault on humanity — in Kyiv, a kindergarten caught fire, along with residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure. Ordinary apartment buildings were damaged in Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk and the region," Zelensky wrote.

Explosions rocked Ukraine's capital, Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported at 2:16 a.m. local time, with multiple further explosions and the sound of drones lasting until after 5 a.m.

One person was killed as a result of the Russian attack on Kyiv, Tkachenko reported. Ukraine's State Emergency Service later said nine people had been injured. Zelensky said two people were killed across the country but did not specify where the second death occurred.

Smoke engulfed Kyiv's Lukianivska metro station as residents took shelter amid the Russian drone attack, local media reported, and a kindergarten in the Dniprovskyi district caught fire.

"The night was quite difficult," Tetiana Skrypka, a resident in an apartment building near the Lukianivska metro station, told the Kyiv Independent. She had taken shelter in a parking lot and heard the area being hit.  

"We ran out to look — everything was engulfed in flames, the first two floors. My apartment is on the third floor. It was damaged: windows blown out, radiators destroyed," she said.

"But thanks to the firefighters, they managed to extinguish the fire very quickly. If it had taken just a bit longer, the fire would have spread further."

The attack comes a week after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose “severe” tariffs on Russia in 50 days if there is no peace deal with Ukraine, not the first deadline Washington has imposed on Moscow, a fact not lost on those in Kyiv.

"This is called mocking people. He (Trump) laughs at people. And this is what is happening,“ Liudmyla, a 65-year-old retiree, pointing to an apartment in a damaged residential building close to the Lukianivska metro station, told the Kyiv Independent

"First he gave two weeks, now he gives 50 days."

After spending the night in a shelter and listening to explosions at a neighboring building, 54-year-old Natalia Ihnatenko said she "doesn't see any end to this at all."

"(The peace process) should have worked already," she told the Kyiv Independent as she swept up broken glass left behind by the blast.

"The Russians have no conscience."

Russia has intensified strikes in recent weeks, targeting cities far from the frontline with drone and missile attacks.

In the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, air defenses were working, Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv reported at 3:13 a.m.

"In one of the community's villages, windows have been broken," he said at 5:09 a.m. local time, adding that there are reports of injuries.

Russian strikes continued to target the western oblast, Martsinkiv reported at 6:05 a.m.

"This is the largest attack since the full-scale invasion," he said.

Infrastructure was damaged in three villages, and there are reports of injuries in one village, Martsinkiv reported. Four people, including a child, were injured, according to the State Emergency Service.

Poland scrambled fighter jets early on July 21 in response to a Russian missile strike on Ukraine, the country's Armed Forces Operational Command reported.

Polish and allied air forces activated jets, while air defense and radar systems were placed on high alert. The last similar incident occurred during a massive Russian attack on Ukraine on July 19.

The latest Russian mass attack comes a few days after Zelensky's invitation to hold peace talks with Moscow in Turkey this week.

"Dialogue with the Russian side on prisoner exchanges is ongoing — we are continuing to implement the agreements reached during the earlier meeting in Istanbul," Zelensky said. "Our team is currently working on another exchange."

But Moscow appears unwilling to shift from its maximalist demands in ending its war with Ukraine, as Putin remains focused on achieving his goals on the battlefield, a Kremlin spokesperson said on July 20.

"President Putin has repeatedly spoken of his desire to bring the Ukrainian settlement to a peaceful conclusion as soon as possible. This is a long process, it requires effort, and it is not easy," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a Russian-state media reporter.

"The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. Our goals are clear," Peskov added.

In Kyiv, those who spoke to the Kyiv Independent expressed little faith in both the peace process and the West's ability to force Russia to end its full-scale invasion.

"I believe Putin could have been stopped a long time ago," Alla Kovtun, a pensioner speaking near the site of the damaged kindergarten, said.

"But it seems the foreigners are more interested in watching Russia weaken gradually than actually ending the war.”