KYIV: Russia attacked Kyiv with missiles and drones overnight Sunday in an intense assault that shook buildings across the city center, including near government offices, residential buildings and schools.
At least two people were killed and 33 people were injured, local authorities said, citing preliminary figures. Air raid sirens blared through the night as smoke billowed across the city from strikes. Associated Press reporters heard powerful explosions near the city center and close to government buildings.
The attack was ongoing by sunrise Sunday, with more missiles and drones expected to reach Kyiv.
Damage was recorded across 40 locations across several districts of the capital including residential buildings, Kyiv military administration head Tymur Tkachenko said in a Telegram post.
“It was a terrible night, and there had never been anything like it in the entire war," said Kyiv resident Svitlana Onofryichuk, 55, who has worked in the market that was damaged for 22 years.
“I am very sorry that I have to say goodbye to Kyiv now, I am not staying there anymore, there is no possibility," she added. “My job is gone, everything is gone, everything has burned down.”
Yevhen Zosin, 74, a Kyiv resident who witnessed the attack, said the moment he heard the explosion he rushed to take his dog.
“Then there was another explosion and she and I were thrown back like a pin by the shock wave. We both survived, she and I. My apartment was blown to pieces,” he said.
In Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, a five-story residential building was hit, which caused a fire, and one person was killed, Ukraine's state emergency service reported.
A school building was damaged by an attack while people sheltered inside, Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said. Local authorities reported supermarkets and warehouses across the city also were damaged.
Multiple communities recorded damage throughout the Kyiv region, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, the regional governor.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was planning to use the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile, citing intelligence from the U.S. and Western partners. Ukraine's Air Force later warned of a possible launch of the Oreshnik.
It was not immediately clear if the missile had been used in the overnight attack.
Russia first used the multiple-warhead Oreshnik on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in November 2024. It was used a second time in January in the western Lviv region.
President Vladimir Putin said the Oreshnik, which means “hazelnut tree” in Russian, streaks at 10 times the speed of sound, or Mach 10, and is capable of destroying underground bunkers “three, four or more floors down.”
The weapon travels “like a meteorite” and is immune to any missile defense system, Putin said, adding that several such missiles, even fitted with conventional warheads, could be as devastating as a nuclear strike.