Firefighters work at the site of a recyclable materials warehouse hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 16. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A 12-year-old child was among at least 17 Ukrainians killed when Russia unleashed a massive overnight barrage of drones and missiles on Kyiv and several other cities, in what officials confirmed Thursday was the deadliest such attack on the country since the start of 2025.
The strikes, which left roughly 100 people wounded, drew swift condemnation from Ukrainian leadership and renewed calls for tougher international action against Moscow. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the carnage demonstrated beyond doubt that the world must not soften its stance toward Russia.
“There can be no normalization of Russia as it is today. Pressure on Russia must work. And it is important to fulfill every promise of assistance to Ukraine on time,” he said.
The human toll was spread across multiple cities. Eight people died and 26 were injured in the southern port city of Odesa, where a high-rise residential building took a direct hit and port infrastructure sustained significant damage. Four people perished in Dnipro, in the southeast, where regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha posted images of residential buildings engulfed in flames; a fifth victim was killed in the surrounding region. In Kyiv, four people were killed, including the child, with at least 60 others injured. Two people were wounded in drone strikes on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
In the capital, an 18-storey apartment building was struck by a drone flying at extremely low altitude in the early hours of Thursday, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko. Fires broke out in several locations across the city, sending thick black smoke into the pre-dawn sky. The acrid smell of burning still hung in the air hours later as residents and rescue crews picked through debris strewn around badly damaged apartment blocks and at least one hotel. A mother and her child were pulled from the rubble of a building in a central district, Klitschko said, while four paramedics and two police officers responding to the scenes were also hurt.
Among those watching the rescue efforts near a children’s play area buried under wreckage was Olena Kapustian, 41, who stood outside the stricken apartment block with her son.
“I fear for our country and for everything we have. For the people. I feel so sorry for the children. So many people died today,” she said, adding that her son had been terrified — and that it was not the first time their building had been targeted. “My son got scared. This is the second time.”
The EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, shared the widespread sense of dread, posting a photograph from a shelter during the attacks. “This night was terrifying. My hands are still shaking,” she wrote.
Ukraine’s air force said its units intercepted 31 missiles and 636 drones in the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. local time Thursday, but acknowledged that 12 missiles and 20 drones broke through defenses and struck their targets. Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba warned that rescue operations were still ongoing and that the death toll could climb further.
Moscow claimed it had conducted a “massive” strike targeting energy infrastructure used by Ukrainian forces, as well as sites linked to cruise missile and drone production, though it offered no specifics. Kyiv, meanwhile, said its own forces had hit two oil depots in Russian-occupied Crimea and struck infrastructure in the Russian southern port of Tuapse on the Black Sea.
In a retaliatory Ukrainian drone attack on Tuapse — home to a major oil refinery and a key export hub for oil, coal and fertilizer — two people were killed, including a 14-year-old girl, seven others were injured, and a large fire broke out, according to Russian officials and state media.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha used the occasion to press the international community for urgent action, posting a stark message on X.
“All decisions required to increase pressure on the aggressor must be unblocked now,” he wrote. “It is immoral, counterproductive, and dangerous to delay sanctions against Russia or packages of support for Ukraine.”
The attack came amid ongoing diplomatic efforts by Western nations to broker a ceasefire, with some countries debating whether to ease certain economic restrictions on Russia as a gesture of goodwill — a prospect Zelenskiy flatly rejected in light of the overnight carnage. With civilian neighborhoods, apartment towers, and markets bearing the brunt of the strikes, Ukrainian officials argued that the pattern of Russian targeting made any relaxation of pressure both premature and unconscionable.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah