'Moscow's true answer to peace efforts' — Russian mass attack on Kyiv kills 25, including children

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

Russia launched a large-scale aerial strike on Ukrainian cities overnight on Aug. 28, attacking Kyiv with missiles and targeting regions far from the front lines.

At least 25 people were killed in the attack on the capital, including four children, authorities said. Three of them were aged 2, 14, and 17.

At least twelve fatalities were reported in the Darnytskyi district, where a residential building was hit, and at least one person was killed in the Shevchenkivskyi district, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.

Sixty-three people including 11 children were injured, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Thirty of them were hospitalized.

Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine, and residents of nearly every region were urged to seek shelter as Russia launched hypersonic missiles and multiple waves of drones throughout the night. At least four MiG-31 aircraft — jets armed with Kinzhal missiles — took off during the attack.

Russia launched 598 drones overnight, including Shahed attack drones and decoys, as well as 31 missiles, among them two Kh-47 Kinzhal ballistic missiles, nine Iskander-M or North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, and 20 Kh-101 cruise missiles, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.

Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 563 drones and 26 missiles, according to the statement.

Kyiv was rocked by explosions as Russia slammed the capital with drones and ballistic missiles, damaging homes, offices, and schools throughout the city. One five-story apartment building took a direct hit and was completely destroyed.

The city was attacked from multiple directions by Shahed-type drones, decoy drones, cruise missiles, and Kinzhal missiles, Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said.

Information about casualties and damage is still being determined. A massive rescue effort is currently underway to clear rubble and retrieve victims who may be trapped under the debris. The response involves around 500 rescuers and 1,000 emergency workers, Klymenko said.

Explosions were first heard in Kyiv beginning around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 27, as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that air defense units were at work over the city. Tkachenko said that air defenses were again activated around midnight as another group of drones approached the city.

Ukraine's Air Force also reported that dozens of drones were flying in swarms above the country's central and southern regions, including Zhytomyr, Odesa, and Mykolaiv oblasts. Aerial alerts were also issued for Ukraine's far-western regions, including Ternopil, Lviv, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.

The Air Force later reported that Russia had launched ballistic missile carriers towards central Ukraine.

Russia struck the Intercity+ high-speed train depot in the town of Koziatyn, Vinnytsia Oblast, severely damaging one of the trains, Ukrainian Railways (Ukrzaliznytsia) reported. The attack led to changes in train operations.

All staff had taken shelter in advance, and no injuries were reported.

More rounds of loud explosions were heard in Kyiv at around 3 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground. Tkachenko announced that Russia had attacked the city with ballistic missiles.

"Tonight, Kyiv is under massive attack by the Russian terrorist state," Tkachenko said.

As Kyiv was still reeling from the attack on civilian neighborhoods, Russia launched another wave of cruise missiles towards the capital and other Ukrainian regions at around 5:30 a.m. New explosions rocked Kyiv while rescue workers were still searching for victims under the rubble of buildings hit by ballistic missiles only hours earlier.

Emergency services were dispatched to multiple districts of the city. Tkachenko said that attacks damaged more than 20 locations, including a shopping center in the city center.

In the Darnytskyi district, the attack damaged two residential buildings, one with five stories and the other with 16. The five-story building was hit directly, causing the structure to collapse from the first to the fifth floor. The Kyiv City Military Administration reported "significant destruction" and said rescue operations are underway.

Another home and a kindergarten in the area were damaged.

Fires also broke out at a three-story office and a 25-story building in the Dniprovskyi district. Drones crashed on the grounds of a nine-story building, and cars in the area caught fire.

In the Shevchenkivskyi district, the attack caused a fire in a residential building and damaged an office, an educational institution, and two non-residential buildings, Klitschko said. In the Solomyanskyi district, a house caught fire.

Damage was also recorded in the Holosiivskyi, Obolonskyi, and Desnianskyi districts.

"In total, the number of damaged sites in Kyiv will again reach hundreds, with thousands of broken windows," Tkachenko said.

The office of Ukrainska Pravda, one of the country's leading newspapers, was damaged in the attack, the news outlet said, publishing photos of the wrecked interior. The extent of damage is being determined. There were no casualties, Ukrainska Pravda wrote.

A shockwave also hit the Kyiv bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), shattering windows and damaging equipment.

No casualties were reported, and the news outlet said its work will continue. Two missiles directly struck civilian buildings near the Radio Liberty office, surveillance footage showed.

RFE/RL Kyiv Bureau Chief Natalie Sedletska told the Kyiv Independent. "Quite a lot of windows were blown out in our Kyiv bureau due to the blast wave, colleagues’ workplaces from several projects were damaged, as well as some equipment. We are still assessing the damage," Sedletska said.

The attack also damaged the building of the British Council and the premises of the EU mission to Ukraine. Two missiles hit within a distance of 50 meters of the delegation within 15 seconds, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, noting that no staff members were harmed.

"This requires not only the EU’s, but worldwide condemnation," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

European officials have denounced the attack on the capital, saying it underscores Russia's disregard for efforts to end the war. Katarina Mathernova, the EU envoy in Kyiv, called it "Moscow’s true answer to peace efforts."

"While the world seeks a path to peace, Russia responds with missiles," said Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat. "The overnight attack on Kyiv shows a deliberate choice to escalate and mock the peace efforts."

In a press statement after the strike, von der Leyen said the attack "shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorize Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women, and children, and even targeting the European Union."

The European Commission chief promised to ramp up pressure on Russia through the upcoming 19th package of sanctions and to continue using the frozen Russian assets to assist Ukraine in its defense and reconstruction.

U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg condemend the attacks, describing them as "egregious."

In a post on X, Slovakia's Foreign Ministry condemned "attacks on civilians — whether in Ukraine, Gaza, or elsewhere," but failed to mention Russia by name.

In response to the attack, Polish and NATO aircraft were scrambled "to ensure the safety of Polish airspace," Poland's military reported.

Russia has increased the frequency and intensity of aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities since the start of 2025. On July 29, Russia launched its deadliest attack against Kyiv this year, killing 32 civilians in a massive combined strike.

As the White House pushes for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, Russia continues to exert additional pressure on Kyiv through constant attacks on cities and escalating ground offensives.

While the death toll climbs, the Kremlin rejects calls for a ceasefire and condemns European efforts to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.

"These Russian missiles and attack drones today are a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table."

Zelensky added that he expects a reaction from China, which "has repeatedly called for not expanding the war and for a ceasefire," as well as from Hungary.

"We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions," the president said.

Yana Prots contributed reporting.

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