Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has issued an urgent plea for more air defence systems after a wave of Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv Saturday killed at least nine people and left dozens more injured. 18 residential buildings, a school, the Lithuanian Embassy, and infrastructure facilities were damaged. Fires broke out across several districts, and power cuts were reported in parts of the city.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency crews were searching for survivors after a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was partially destroyed, leaving people trapped beneath the rubble. Ukraine's emergency services said seven people were killed in the Darnytskyi district, where another 14 people, including two children, were injured. In the Solomyanskyi district, two more people died and eight others, including two children, were hurt after a five-storey apartment building was hit.
The strikes came just days after another large-scale Russian attack in which a suspected cruise missile briefly entered Polish airspace before returning to Ukraine. That barrage killed at least eight people, including six members of the same family.
Zelensky said on X: "Overnight, the Russians launched 35 missiles at Ukraine, including 27 ballistic missiles, as well as 185 attack drones of various types. Kyiv was the primary target, but strikes also hit the Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava regions.
"Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot systems. And it is this shortage of ballistic missile interceptors that only encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives.
"It is critical that partners hear that these capabilities are needed not somewhere in stockpiles for hypothetical scenarios, but here and now, to contain and stop the Russian war in Ukraine.
"Every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves the lives of our people. And every night without them results in more casualties. I thank everyone who is working to strengthen our defenses."
It comes after Zelensky travelled to Washington to press US President Donald Trump to grant Ukraine a licence to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.
While Trump said discussions were continuing, he stressed the US had not yet approved such a move, describing the transfer of advanced military technology as "a big step". Trump's latest comments regarding Patriot missiles come weeks after he offered to give Ukraine the right to produce them.
