Kyiv Government Building Hit for First Time as Russia Launches Record 800 Missile and Drone Strikes Across Ukraine

vernment Building Hit for First Time as Russia Launches Record 800 Missile and Drone Strikes Across Ukraine






Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has said that for the first time during the war with Russia, Kyiv’s central government building has been targeted.

Yulia Svyrydenko stated that the roof and upper floors of the building were badly damaged, and a fire broke out as a result of the strike.

Nationwide attacks killed at least four people, including a child and a young woman who died when a nine-story residential building in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district was hit.

Ukraine’s Air Force claimed that in the latest overnight assault, Russia launched a record number of drones and missiles, with the total exceeding 800.

According to the Air Force, nine missiles and 56 drones hit 37 sites, with debris damage reported at eight of them.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the strikes also caused destruction in the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, and Odesa, as well as in the regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.

On social media, Zelenskyy wrote: “Such killings now, when genuine diplomacy could have started long ago, are a deliberate crime and an attempt to prolong the war.”

He urged world leaders to show a clear political will to stop these attacks.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed it had struck Ukraine’s military and industrial facilities and transport infrastructure, damaging arms and equipment depots.

The government building in Kyiv that was hit is also known as the Cabinet of Ministers building, as it houses the offices of key Ukrainian ministers.

Although details on Sunday were unclear, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko suggested that during the interception of a drone, it may have accidentally crashed into the Cabinet building.

He wrote on Telegram: “A fire broke out in a government building in the Pechersk district, possibly as a result of downing a UAV.”

This marks a new and significant turn in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Until now, no government building had been struck in central Kyiv, which has been heavily fortified since the beginning of the war. The incident is likely to cause fear and concern among the population.

It is also a symbolic strike, showing that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements about being ready for peace are merely a façade. He is not stopping; instead, Russia is intensifying its attacks.

On Sunday morning, people saw smoke rising into the sky from just behind Independence Square.

Later, a video posted on social media showed two Russian cruise missiles moving at high speed, followed by another powerful explosion.

In Kyiv, a residential building strike shattered the windows of Valentyna’s home, and glass rained down on her.

At the time of the attack, Valentyna and her husband were sleeping.

“At least we’re alive,” she said. One of her young neighbors and the neighbor’s child were killed.

Neighbors said the family had only recently moved into the apartment, and the woman’s husband was severely injured and hospitalized.

Ukrainian footballer Heorhiy Sudakov’s Kyiv apartment was also damaged in a Russian drone strike. The 23-year-old player wrote on Instagram that his wife and child were inside during the attack.

Sudakov is currently away on an international tour but posted photos and videos after the strike. It remains unclear whether his family was injured.

Kyiv officials reported that in the Sviatoshynskyi and Darnytskyi districts, several multi-story residential buildings were directly hit and partially destroyed.

In other parts of Ukraine, such as the city of Zaporizhzhia, 17 people were injured in a strike. According to regional head Ivan Fedorov, multiple homes, buildings, and a nursery were damaged.

Fedorov added that in the village of Novopavlivka outside the city, a Russian glide bomb killed one woman and left another person missing.

According to President Zelenskyy, one person was killed in Safonivka in the Sumy region, and another was killed in the Chernihiv region.

Russia also struck a central Ukrainian city, which is Zelenskyy’s hometown. Three infrastructure sites were damaged there. Air raid sirens sounded throughout the night across the country.

Ukraine also launched retaliatory strikes. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its air defenses intercepted or destroyed 69 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, reported on Sunday that at least three civilians were killed and buildings destroyed.

Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s unmanned aerial forces, said Ukrainian drones targeted a major Russian oil pipeline, striking a pumping station in the Bryansk region.

Earlier this week, Putin rejected proposals for the deployment of Western forces in Ukraine immediately after any ceasefire.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Sunday’s strikes, saying they showed that “Putin believes he can act with impunity” and that he is “not serious about peace.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have formally pledged to deploy forces by land, sea, or air once the war ends, in order to provide security. He gave no further details.

Putin warned that any troops deployed in Ukraine would be considered “legitimate targets.”