Russian ballistic missiles slammed into the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early Thursday, killing at least one person and triggering fires across several non-residential sites, officials said. The pre-dawn attack sent air raid alerts wailing across most regions of Ukraine, with Reuters witnesses reporting the sound of explosions echoing through the city center.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the casualty and damage via the Telegram messaging app. The strike came just hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, returning from high-stakes talks in the United States, warned that intelligence pointed to an imminent, large-scale Russian assault.
Western Ukraine and Poland on High Alert
The barrage extended far beyond the capital. In Lviv, the western city near the Polish border, missiles tore into two apartment buildings, injuring at least six people, according to local officials. The attack’s proximity to NATO territory prompted an immediate reaction from Warsaw.
Poland’s armed forces announced they had scrambled fighter jets and an early warning aircraft to secure its airspace. “Fighter aircraft and an early warning aircraft begun operations, while ground-based air defence systems and radar reconnaissance systems have reached a state of readiness,” the military stated on social media platform X, emphasizing the actions were purely preventive.
Zelenskiy’s Plea for Air Defenses After US Trip
>The deadly strikes underscored a desperate plea from President Zelenskiy, who directly linked civilian survival to the speed of Western military aid. Fresh from meetings where he said President Donald Trump agreed to provide licenses for Patriot missile systems, Zelenskiy stressed the urgency of deliveries.
“It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that protection of people’s lives depends directly on their willingness, lack of willingness, to provide air defence missiles,” Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine Deepens Strikes on Russian Economic Targets
As Russia pounded Ukrainian cities, Kyiv continued its campaign of long-range drone strikes aimed at Moscow’s economic infrastructure. A major warehouse belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s top online retailer, caught fire in the western city of Penza following a drone attack, regional governor Oleg Melnichenko reported.
The economic ripple effects are now alarming Russia’s financial sector. The country’s largest bank, Sberbank, has warned it may need to significantly increase loan-loss provisions as the attacks cripple the finances of online retailers and their vast network of small-business suppliers. For many ordinary Russians, online sales via platforms like Wildberries have a primary source of income, even as Kyiv’s strikes deepen a broader fuel crisis by targeting energy facilities and refineries.
