The attack on Kyiv resulted in significant civilian casualties and damage to medical facilities. City authorities said 10 people were killed and at least 35 were wounded in the attack on Kyiv. Four people were killed after another medical facility in Kyiv was hit, according to Ukrainian officials. The follow-up strike partly demolished another building in Kyiv, where the maternity hospital Isida and Adonis medical centre are located, killing at least seven people. Hundreds of people rushed to clear debris at the children’s hospital, where windows had been smashed and panels ripped off. Parents holding babies walked in the street outside, dazed and sobbing after the rare daylight aerial attack. The Kyiv city administration reported falling debris, presumably from intercepted missiles, in a handful of Kyiv areas which started fires, and thick plumes of smoke rose from several Kyiv neighbourhoods. There was no immediate word on casualties at Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine’s biggest.
Casualties and damage were reported in multiple other Ukrainian cities from the coordinated attacks. In Kryvyi Rih, 11 people were reportedly killed and 40 others were injured in what Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul called a 'massive missile attack.' Three people were killed in the eastern town of Pokrovsk, where missiles hit an industrial facility, Donetsk’s regional governor said. One person was killed in Dnipro city of Dnipropetrovsk, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 40 missiles of different types hit apartment buildings and public infrastructure in five cities – Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk. The number of civilians killed across the country is growing all the time, including in other missile strikes today, on Kryvyi Rih, Pokrovsk, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, and Slovyansk. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia launched over 40 missiles against cities and towns across Ukraine earlier today.
The Ukrainian Air Force provided a detailed report on the scale and composition of the Russian attack. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 405 Shahed-type, Gerbera-type, and other drones — roughly 250 of which were Shahed drones — from Kursk and Oryol cities; Millerovo, Rostov Oblast; Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai; and occupied Cape Chauda, Crimea. They also launched 11 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from Bryansk and Rostov oblasts and occupied Donetsk Oblast; nine Iskander-K cruise missiles from Kursk and Voronezh oblasts and occupied Crimea; four Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles from the airspace above Rostov Oblast; and four Kh-59/69 cruise missiles from occupied Zaporizhia Oblast. Ukrainian forces downed 333 drones, eight Iskander-K cruise missiles, six Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, and two Kh-59/69 missiles; 12 missiles and 55 drones hit 26 locations; and drone debris fell on 19 locations. The Ukrainian Air Force noted that 17 drones did not reach their targets as they were 'lost in location,' likely referring to Ukrainian electronic warfare interference. The strikes primarily targeted Kyiv Oblast and also affected Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, and Odesa Oblasts.
The strikes inflicted severe damage on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Ukrainian officials reported that the strikes damaged civilian and energy infrastructure in Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kirovohrad oblasts. DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private power producer, said three substations and electricity networks had been damaged in the capital. The country’s power grid has already sustained damage from targeted Russian air strikes that began in March. In response, the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy announced that it enacted emergency power shutdowns throughout most Ukrainian oblasts and that Ukrainian officials are working to restore power.
This escalation occurs within the broader context of Russia's invasion, which began on false pretexts and has resulted in significant territorial gains. Putin’s stated reasons for the invasion included the false claim that Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian speakers in the Donbas. Analysts at the US-based Institute for the Study of War say Russia took about 4,700 sq km (1,800 sq miles) of territory in 2025 - an area about twice the size of the city of Moscow, though Russia claims to have taken 6,000 sq km. A Russian summer offensive near the eastern town of Pokrovsk did make rapid advances just north of the town and Russia has recently made advances in the town itself and to the east of nearby Kostyantynivka.
The war has exacted a staggering human cost, though casualty figures are disputed and often unverifiable. In December 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 370,000 injured since February 2022; he also said 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and 550,000 injured. None of these claims was verifiable; Russia has said its losses are less than Ukraine’s. In June 2025, the Center for Strategic and International Studies released an analysis that estimated Russian military casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) would reach one million during the summer of 2025. The CSIS also estimated Ukrainian military casualties since 2022 to be 400,000, including an estimated 60,000–100,000 soldiers killed. According to a report released in January 2026 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, nearly 15,000 civilians had been killed and more than 40,600 injured since February 2022. The overwhelming majority of these casualties, which were verified by UN personnel, occurred in Ukraine.
Recent battlefield developments include potential impacts from Elon Musk's decision to deny Russian forces access to his Starlink satellite-based internet service. There is some evidence that Elon Musk's decision to deny Russian forces access to his Starlink satellite-based internet service at the start of February has given Ukraine an advantage. Ukraine requested the move as evidence grew that Starlink was enabling Russian forces to mount increasingly accurate attacks, including multiple instances of units being attached to drones, allowing operators to use real-time video links to guide drones on to targets. In some areas of the long front line, especially east of the city of Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces appear to have been forced to retreat.
The international community has responded with condemnation and renewed financial support. The G7 joint declaration strongly condemned Putin’s illegal invasion and reinforced our unwavering support for Ukraine. Analysts warn that if President Putin prevails in Ukraine, he will not stop at Ukraine, and if big nations redraw international boundaries by force, the sovereignty and security of all nations is undermined. The UK will provide an additional £2.26bn to Ukraine, which is new money delivered under the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans to Ukraine scheme. That’s part of the $50 billion loan package from G7 countries to support Ukraine’s military, budget, and reconstruction needs. Loans will be repaid using the profits generated from immobilised Russian sovereign assets.
Diplomatic efforts for a peace plan continue, but face significant hurdles. It comes after a US-backed peace plan unveiled in November suggested Ukraine could cede control of all of Luhansk, Donetsk and Crimea, along with the areas of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson that Russia currently occupies, to Moscow. Under that plan, Ukrainian forces would have had to withdraw from parts of Donetsk they still hold and this would become a demilitarised area under de facto Russian control, while Russian forces would withdraw from the small areas of Ukraine they currently occupy outside those regions. Zelensky has consistently said Ukraine will not hand over the Donbas in exchange for peace, saying such a concession could be used as a springboard for future attacks by Russia.
Rescue operations are ongoing in the aftermath of the latest attacks, with casualty numbers expected to rise. The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermal, said the attack occurred at a time when many people were in the city’s streets. As rubble is being cleared, the number of reported casualties is growing. According to Kyiv's mayor Vitalij Klitsjko via Telegram, a 12-year-old child died after a Russian attack on Kyiv, which occurred in the Podilskyj district, hitting the first floor of a residential building. Rescue services are searching for the child's mother in the ruins.
Regional military responses were triggered by the attack. The Romanian Ministry of National Defense reported that Romanian forces scrambled two F-16 fighter jets to investigate air targets moving toward the Danube Delta area and that two German Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft took off from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base to carry out Enhanced Air Policing missions during the overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine.
The recent barrage follows a pattern of attacks on civilian infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russian forces conducted a drone strike against a kindergarten in Kharkiv Oblast on October 22, killing one and injuring seven.
The timing of the attacks coincides with diplomatic meetings and a major NATO summit. The attacks come as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban paid an unexpected visit to Beijing on Monday and met Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a potential Ukraine peace deal. A three-day NATO summit begins on Tuesday in Washington, DC to look at ways to reassure Ukraine of the alliance’s support.
Specific attack details continue to emerge, highlighting the toll on civilians. Kyiv City and Oblast officials reported that Russian forces conducted strikes against civilian and energy infrastructure, killing four civilians, including a 12-year-old girl and a six-month-old baby, and injuring 29, including five children. At least 22 civilians were reportedly killed in Kyiv while as many as 72 were injured, according to Ukrainian authorities. In Kryvyi Rih, at least 10 civilians were killed and over 30 injured, and other casualties reported across the country.
Injuries were also reported in other cities. Five people are injured after Russian attacks in Dnipro, according to major media reports.
Human rights organizations have condemned the attacks and pointed to Russian responsibility. The evidence now widely available and some of it verified by Amnesty International experts, including videos of the strike that destroyed the Ohmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, consistently suggests that the hospital was hit by an inbound Russian cruise missile. Russian attempts to put the blame on Ukrainian air defence display a callous audacity, which seeks to deflect from Russia’s responsibility for killing civilians and destroying medical facilities.