Russia has initiated its second-largest aerial offensive in the Ukraine conflict, resulting in the deaths of 19 individuals and causing damage to a European Union building.

 

Russia has initiated its second-largest aerial offensive in the Ukraine conflict, resulting in the deaths of 19 individuals and causing damage to a European Union building.

By Laura Sharman , Svitlana Vlasova , Daria Tarasova-Markina and Catherine Nicholls

Kyiv experienced a significant bombardment overnight, marking Russia's second-largest aerial assault since the onset of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Officials report that at least 19 individuals lost their lives, including four children. The strikes on Thursday resulted in damage to buildings associated with the European Union and the British Council, prompting both the EU and the United Kingdom to call in the highest-ranking Russian diplomats in their respective capitals. Among the deceased are children aged 2, 14, and 17, as stated by Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. According to Ukraine's air force, the Kremlin launched a total of 629 aerial attack weapons against the country overnight, which included 598 drones and 31 missiles.

Yuriy Ihnat, the head of communications for the air force, informed CNN that the strikes represented "one of the largest combined attacks" on the nation.

Russia's defense ministry reported that it targeted "military-industrial complex enterprises and military air bases in Ukraine" utilizing "high-precision weapons."

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow remains interested in peace negotiations, but underscored that the "special military operation," which is Russia's terminology for the conflict, "continues."

In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the assault as a "horrific and deliberate killing of civilians" in a message on X.

"These Russian missiles and attack drones today serve as a clear response to everyone globally who has been advocating for a ceasefire and genuine diplomacy for weeks and months," he remarked in a previous post.

Ukrainian officials reported that hundreds of responders were dispatched to incidents across various locations, including a facility utilized by the EU mission to Ukraine.

The mission, which has been operating in Kyiv since 1993, aims to "promote the political and economic relations" between Ukraine and the EU, among other objectives, as stated on its website.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her "outrage" regarding the incident, labeling it "another grim reminder of what is at stake."

"It demonstrates that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorize Ukraine, indiscriminately killing civilians, including men, women, and children, and even targeting the European Union," she stated.

The EU chief communicated with both Zelensky and US President Donald Trump following the strikes, von der Leyen added in a post on X, also asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin "must come to the negotiating table."

The bloc is calling upon the Russian envoy in Brussels as a reaction to the attack, stated Kaja Kallas, the EU’s leading diplomat. According to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a British Council building in Kyiv sustained damage from the strikes, and he remarked that Putin is "killing children and civilians, and undermining hopes for peace." British foreign secretary David Lammy announced on social media that London has summoned the Russian ambassador, emphasizing that "the killing and destruction must cease." Later on Thursday, the Spanish foreign ministry reported that it had summoned the charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy to express its protest against the "unacceptable attack." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of deliberately targeting diplomats, which he described as a "direct violation of the Vienna convention," and he urged for "global condemnation" in a statement on X. Keith Kellogg, the White House’s special envoy for Ukraine, also denounced the overnight strikes, stating on X that "these outrageous attacks jeopardize the peace that (Trump) is striving for."