The Ukrainian capital was struck by a "massive attack" from Russia overnight with drones and missiles killing at least 12 people, including three children, a city official said. "Sadly, among them, are three children aged 2, 17 and 14," Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, confirmed Thursday. Ukraine's Air Force confirmed the Kremlin unleashed 629 air attack weapons on Ukraine overnight, comprising 598 drones and 31 missiles. "People may still be trapped under the rubble. Dozens are wounded," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X. "These Russian missiles and attack drones today are a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy," he added. Ukrainian authorities said some 500 rescuers and 1,000 police officers were responding to incidents in multiple locations including a building of the European Union mission to Ukraine. This was confirmed by President of the European Council Antonio Costa who said "the EU will not be intimidated." "Horrified by yet another night of deadly Russian missile attacks on Ukraine," Costa wrote on X. "My thoughts are with the Ukrainian victims and also with the staff of @EUDelegationUA , whose building was damaged in this deliberate Russian strike." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of targeting diplomats "in direct breach of the Vienna convention" and called for "worldwide condemnation" in a statement on X. Mountaineers, dog handlers, psychologists, engineering and fire and rescue equipment were deployed in Thursday's rescue efforts as well as robotic equipment "so that rescuers can work faster," interior minister Ihor Klymenko said. Residents overnight endured an air raid alert lasting more than nine hours, according to Klymenko, with ballistic and cruise missiles raining down. Agency pictures showed locals flocking once more to subway stations where many spent the night. Residents were advised to "stay in shelters" during the attack and the all-clear was announced shortly before 7am local time. The major attack on Ukraine's capital comes just over two weeks after US President Donald Trump held face to face talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, seeking to secure and end the war. But momentum around peace talks has stalled, with no sign that a bilateral meeting the White House has pushed between Zelensky and Putin will take place. The attack on Kyiv is the latest in a series of assaults across Ukraine this week, as Kremlin troops intensify their offensive amid stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war. Ukrainian open-source researchers confirmed on Tuesday that Russian troops had captured two villages in Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region. Russian forces now occupy the villages of Zaporizke and Novoheorhiivka, according to DeepState, a group tracking battlefield developments. Ukraine's outmanned and outgunned military has struggled to fend off grinding Russian advances in much of the east as Moscow increases pressure on Kyiv to give up territory in any peace negotiations. "Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table," Zelensky wrote in his message on X after the latest overnight attacks. "It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war. And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences." In his analysis of Russia's latest strikes on Kyiv, Tkachenko said the Kremlin has a typical "signature" which involves "combined attacks from different directions" and targeting "ordinary residential buildings." Decoy missiles were used as false targets to confuse Ukrainian defense systems, the military chief added. Several high-rise residential buildings were damaged, as well as a kindergarten, private housing, non-residential blocks, offices, transport infrastructure and dozens of cars, officials said. "In total, the number of damaged facilities in Kyiv will again reach hundreds, with thousands of broken windows, and a shopping center in the city center was damaged," Tkachenko added. Ukraine's State Emergency Service sent aircraft to help extinguish fires across the city with the affected neighborhoods including Darnytskyi, Desnianskyi, Dniprovskyi, Holosiivskyi, Obolonskyi, Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi, which is home to several cultural and religious landmarks. — CNN
