Children’s hospital hit as Kremlin intensifies bombardment of capital

At least 13 people were killed and 40 wounded in the latest Russian bombardment of Kyiv, as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that a crippling shortage of air defence missiles—supplied by Western allies—had left the capital exposed to Moscow’s ballistic missiles. Apartment blocks and warehouses were struck across the city overnight, the State Emergency Service said, while a children’s hospital and a school also sustained damage in an attack that Russia’s defence ministry claimed was aimed at military facilities and warehouses.

Speaking at a wrecked apartment block in the Solomianskyi district, Mayor Vitali Klitschko told the BBC that Ukraine urgently needed “ammunition, anti-missile systems—we need support from our partners”. Around him, emergency workers continued to sift through rubble as residents stood outside their destroyed homes. Among them was Valeria Bondaruk, who had fled to Kyiv from southern Ukraine after her previous home was bombed, believing the capital would be safer for her and her daughter. A shard of glass embedded in her bedroom wall bore witness to how close the strike had come. She hid in a hallway overnight, as there was no bomb shelter, and told the BBC she now fears for her 13‑year‑old daughter’s future and is considering leaving Ukraine altogether.

Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told the BBC’s Today programme that the country is “absolutely unprotected” from ballistic missile attacks and “can’t do anything” without interceptors. “Russia is using this trying to destroy as much infrastructure as possible,” he said. “For us it’s very painful because we are dying here every day without these interceptors.” Writing on Telegram, President Zelensky said: “As long as Ukraine does not have enough anti-ballistics, Russia will not seriously think about peace.” He added: “The interceptors for the Patriots have not yet been replaced, and they are needed every day. Each additional missile saves the lives of our people.”

The Ukrainian Air Force’s update on Thursday morning implied that none of the Russian ballistic missiles used overnight were intercepted. Ukraine has relied on American‑supplied Patriot interceptor missiles to counter such threats, but the United States has used much of its own stockpile during the war in the Middle East and has been supplying Ukraine with fewer munitions. The overnight attack involved 168 drones and 44 missiles, Kyiv’s air force said, with air defences shooting down 146 drones and 39 cruise missiles—but the ballistic warheads got through. The strikes cut power to thousands of properties, plunging parts of the Kyiv region into darkness, and a day of mourning for the dead was declared for Friday.

Zelensky’s renewed plea for more military aid came as he faced a direct political challenge from the popular former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who has called for an election and launched a scathing attack on the government, alleging that corruption has deprived the military of weapons. In the broader Kyiv region, an attack in the Brovary and Boryspil districts killed one man and wounded seven, while one person was killed and 11 injured in Donetsk Oblast, a local official said. Romania’s defence ministry reported that a drone crossed into its territory at the northern border with Ukraine, triggering an air alert before crashing into an uninhabited area, and Poland said it had launched defensive air operations to protect its airspace.

Recent weeks have seen both sides escalate massive air strikes. Ukraine has stepped up attacks deep inside Russia, targeting Moscow with 600 drones at the weekend and twice striking facilities belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s equivalent of Amazon—seven out of ten of the company’s logistics centres have now been “disabled”, according to Kyiv’s defence ministry. Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire have made little progress, with both sides accusing each other of targeting civilians. Russia, which launched its full‑scale invasion in February 2022 and now controls about one‑fifth of Ukrainian territory, shows no sign of relenting. As Konstantin, a Ukrainian‑born soldier captured fighting for Russia, told the BBC from a prisoner‑of‑war camp: “Everyone I know there has had enough. I just want this to be over, as soon as possible.” For the people of Kyiv, that end remains nowhere in sight.