A wave of overnight Russian missile strikes has killed at least eight people in the capital Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukrainian authorities say.
Apartment blocks and warehouses were hit in what the State Emergency Service of Ukraine described as a "massive attack" on Thursday. A children's hospital and a school were also damaged. At least 33 people were injured.
Authorities are working to rescue people trapped beneath the rubble of demolished buildings. Crews have already pulled two survivors from the debris.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said the children's hospital sustained broken windows, with cars set ablaze nearby. An educational institution was also damaged. An industrial centre in the Solomyanskyi district, in south-west Kyiv, was struck by missiles, the mayor added.
An attack in the Brovary district of the broader Kyiv region killed one man and wounded another, according to Kyiv regional governor Tymur Tkachenko.
The regional administration issued an alert earlier in the night urging residents to take shelter. "Air defense operations are possible in the area," it warned. Further missile alerts were issued by regional authorities throughout the night, citing warnings from the Ukrainian air force that missiles were heading toward the capital.
The strikes cut power to thousands of properties, plunging parts of the Kyiv region into darkness. Technicians worked to repair damaged energy infrastructure.
The Russian defence ministry claimed to have targeted a drone component production facility and a munitions depot in Kyiv, according to state-run media. The claims have not been independently verified.
Meanwhile, Romania reported that a drone crossed into its territory at the northern border with Ukraine, triggering an air alert. "A drone entered Romanian national airspace, approximately 13 kilometres east of the city of Galati," the Romanian defence ministry said in a statement. The drone crashed into "an uninhabited area," causing a small fire that was subsequently extinguished. "No casualties or material damage were reported," the ministry added, noting that the initial alert had been lifted.
Poland's military said it had begun "defensive air operations" to protect its airspace. Poland shares part of its south-eastern border with Ukraine.
Kyiv has faced near-nightly attacks in recent weeks, with some strikes resulting in dozens of deaths and serious injuries. President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than a dozen regions across Ukraine had been targeted over the past week, with Russia launching more than 1,550 attack drones, 1,560 guided aerial bombs, and 62 missiles.
Ukraine has stepped up its own strikes deep inside Russia in recent weeks. A recent wave of approximately 600 drones targeted Moscow. Two separate attacks on Russia this week killed at least 16 people, including one child.
Since July, Ukraine has repeatedly targeted a warehouse belonging to the online retailer Wildberries. Ukraine's defence ministry said the latest strike meant that seven out of ten of the company's largest logistics centres had been "disabled."
While the attacks on Russia are partly intended to increase pressure on Moscow to engage in peace talks, diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire have made little progress. Both sides accuse each other of targeting civilians.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls approximately one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, largely in the eastern border regions.
