Russian Drone and Missile Attack on Kyiv Kills 10, Injures Over 50

Kyiv: Ten people were killed and more than fifty injured when Russia launched a drone and missile attack targeting residential apartment buildings in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry claimed the strikes were in retaliation for recent Ukrainian attacks on its civilian infrastructure.

A direct hit by a Russian projectile caused severe damage to six floors of a nine-storey residential complex. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency rescue teams are continuing to search through the rubble, with paramedics among those injured.

Anticipating the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky cut short his Dublin visit and returned home. This was the largest attack Kyiv has faced since mid-June. Air raid sirens blared through the night, prompting residents to take shelter in underground railway stations en masse. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged allied nations not to delay further in supplying air defence systems to Ukraine.

NATO member Poland scrambled fighter jets as a precautionary measure but subsequently called them back. Russia claimed the strikes targeted military and energy installations and airports, and that 327 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight. Putin has rejected Zelensky's proposal to hold talks to end the war, now in its fifth year.

Ukraine's intensified strikes on Russian oil refineries have caused a severe fuel crisis in Russia, with reports indicating the country has been forced to import petrol even from India. In Novosibirsk, hundreds of kilometres from Moscow, fuel distribution has been restricted to emergency vehicles due to the shortage.

A drone attack on the Nizhny Novgorod region, home to the major "Norsi" oil refinery, killed one person and damaged the facility. Seven drones were shot down by Russian forces in the Leningrad region. Local authorities in the border region of Belgorod also confirmed that one person was killed in a drone strike there. Both sides continue to maintain they do not target civilians.