Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv Kills 15 and Hits Children’s Hospital

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces launched a barrage of ballistic missiles, cruise weapons, and attack drones against Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least 15 people, wounding dozens, and severing power to nearly 90,000 homes in the Ukrainian capital.

The hours-long assault, which began shortly after midnight on Aug. 20, hit 28 locations across the capital, according to municipal officials and emergency services. Debris and direct strikes damaged residential high-rises, a children’s hospital, an educational facility, and multiple commercial warehouses.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the rising death toll Thursday afternoon and declared Friday, Aug. 21, a formal day of mourning across the capital. Emergency crews continued to pull survivors and bodies from collapsed structures in the Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi, and Sviatoshynskyi districts.

“It was a massive attack,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media statement Thursday. “The Russians had been preparing for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, aiming to cause as much damage as possible.”

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched 44 cruise missiles, hypersonic and ballistic projectiles, and 168 Shahed attack drones. Air defense units intercepted 39 cruise missiles and 145 drones, though several ballistic missiles pierced the city’s defense umbrella.

In the Solomianskyi district, a missile strike ripped through the top floors of a nine-story apartment building, killing seven residents on impact and igniting fires across multiple levels. Nearby, blast waves blew out windows at a children’s hospital and set parked vehicles ablaze in the facility’s courtyard.