Russian missile strike kills one, injures three in Kyiv, says Ukraine

Russian missile strike kills one, injures three in Kyiv, says Ukraine

A Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed one man and injured three other people overnight, causing damage and fires in several districts in the biggest such attack on Ukraine for weeks, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

The strike was the first large-scale attack using missiles and drones since the US said late last month it had negotiated two ceasefire accords with Russia and Ukraine, including one that would halt strikes on each other's energy infrastructure.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said ongoing attacks on Ukraine showed Russia did not want to end the three-year-old war.

"Drones and missiles, constant attacks on Ukraine. Russia is increasing the intensity of its attacks and demonstrably does not want to cease fire, does not want peace," Yermak said on the Telegram messaging app, posting a video of firefighters trying to put out fires at badly damaged buildings.

"The language of force is the only one that Putin understands. All our partners need to switch to this language," he added.

Russian forces used ballistic and cruise missiles launched from both strategic bombers and naval fleets, as well as drones, during the overnight attack, Ukraine's air force said.

Warnings from the air force of an attack including on regions bordering Poland, forcing the neighbouring NATO-member country to scramble aircraft to ensure air safety.

Poland has been on high alert for objects entering its airspace since a stray Ukrainian missile struck the southern Polish village of Przewodow in 2022, killing two people.

In Kyiv, several loud explosions were heard overnight.

Fires broke out in at least three districts of Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post.

"The body of a man killed in an enemy attack was found in Darnytskiy district (of Kyiv). He was on the street, near the epicentre of the explosion," Klitschko said.

He added that two civilians had been taken to hospital after they were injured in Darnytskiy, on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River that splits the city.

The Sunday strikes on Kyiv came after officials in the southern region of Mykolaiv reported three people had been injured in Russian strikes. A day earlier, a Russian attack killed at least 19 people including nine children in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour. Thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

US President Donald Trump, who took office in January after pledging he would end the war in 24 hours, has sought to broker an end to the conflict.