At least 11 civilians were killed and over 130 injured in Russian strikes overnight in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country, HRMMU, reported on Thursday.
Among the confirmed dead is a six-year-old boy. At least 10 of the injured were children, the mission said , and news reports indicate that figure is rising.
City-wide damage
Russia reportedly launched 309 drones and eight cruise missiles during the night, and despite air defences managing to destroy many of them, the damage across the capital was severe.
At least 27 locations across Kyiv were hit by the attack, with the heaviest damage seen in the Solomianskyi and Sviatoshynskyi districts, where UN rescue efforts are ongoing.
In the Sviatoshynskyi district, a missile destroyed a section of a nine-story apartment building.
In the Solomianskyi district, a five-story apartment building was severely damaged, and at least two people were killed.
UN Ukraine reported that witnesses described shock at the strike, which happened so quickly that they did not have time to seek shelter.
"Homes, businesses and public buildings are being destroyed, and it may take years to rebuild them. And each new attack compounds the psychological toll on people who have to spend night after night in shelters," said Danielle Bell, Head of HRMMU.
More than 100 buildings were reportedly damaged in the capital, including homes, schools, kindergartens, medical facilities and universities, according to news reports.
Unprecedented civilian toll
This attack follows a wave of violence close and far from the frontline, including weekend assaults that killed at least 20 civilians and injured over 120; a prison attack on Monday that killed 16 inmates; a hospital strike that killed three; and the death of five civilians in the east on Tuesday.
This violent pattern continues from June, when HRMMU reported that Russia launched 10 times more missile and loitering munitions attacks against Ukraine compared with June 2024, killing 232 and injuring 1,343.
The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, stressed on social media that "international humanitarian law must be respected. All efforts must be taken to protect civilians. They are not a target."
