UKRAINE- At least seven people were killed and several injured in an overnight Russia missile and drone attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on Monday. In a social media post, he stated that residential areas, hospitals, and sports facilities were targeted.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, told the BBC that six of the deaths occurred in a high-rise building in the capital, with 22 others injured. The Kyiv Independent reported that explosions began around 1 a.m., with kamikaze drones observed overhead. Louder blasts from ballistic missiles followed an hour later, and the attack lasted approximately 3.5 hours. The Shevchenkivskyi district suffered the most significant damage, where a five-storey building partially collapsed.
Russia has escalated its aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. A previous combined drone and missile attack on Kyiv overnight on 16-17 June was among the deadliest in the capital in a year, killing at least 28 civilians and injuring over 130. Many remain missing under the rubble of 35 destroyed apartments. That night, attacks were also reported in Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv provinces, with two civilians killed and scores injured in Odesa.
The UN Security Council met on Friday to address the worsening situation in Ukraine, where intensified fighting has spread to new areas, causing further displacement. UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča told the Council, “As we are facing renewed escalation on the ground and crisis elsewhere, it is critical to maintain focused attention on the urgent need for peace in Ukraine.” He noted that civilian casualties have surged due to Russia’s unrelenting large-scale attacks over the past three weeks.
According to the UN human rights office (OHCHR), at least 13,438 civilians, including 713 children, have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Another 33,270 civilians, including over 2,000 children, have been injured. In the first five months of 2025 alone, 5,144 civilian casualties were recorded—859 killed and 4,285 injured—nearly 50% higher than the same period in 2024. Jenča warned that “these levels of death and destruction risk dimming hope for an immediate ceasefire and threaten to undermine prospects for a lasting peace.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to travel to London on Monday to discuss the ongoing conflict.
