Kyiv was bombarded overnight by Russia's second-biggest aerial attack since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with at least 21 people killed, including four children, according to officials. Buildings belonging to the European Union and the British Council were damaged in the strikes into Thursday, causing both the EU and the United Kingdom to summon the top Russian diplomats in their capitals. Among those killed are children aged 2, 17 and 14, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Ukraine's air force said that the Kremlin unleashed 629 air attack weapons on the country overnight, comprising 598 drones and 31 missiles. Yuriy Ihnat, head of communications for the air force, told CNN that the strikes comprised "one of the largest combined attacks" on the country. Russia's defense ministry said it struck "military-industrial complex enterprises and military air bases in Ukraine" using "high-precision weapons." Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is still interested in peace talks, but emphasized that the "special military operation," Russia's way of describing the war, "continues." Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the assault a "horrific and deliberate killing of civilians" in a post 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 said in an earlier post. Ukrainian authorities said hundreds of responders were sent to incidents in multiple locations, including a building used by the EU mission to Ukraine. The mission, which has been based in Kyiv since 1993, works to "promote the political and economic relations" between Ukraine and the EU, among other mandates, according to its website. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she was "outraged" by the incident, calling it "another grim reminder of what is at stake." "It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorize Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women and children, and even targeting the European Union," she said. The EU chief spoke to both Zelensky and US President Donald Trump following the strikes, von der Leyen added in a post on X, also stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin "must come to the negotiating table." The bloc is summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels in response to the attack, the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said. Trump is "not happy" but "not surprised" by the strikes, the White House said Thursday, adding that he was watching the developments "intently." Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, wants the war to end, but both Putin and Zelensky "must want it to end as well." A British Council building in Kyiv was also damaged by the strikes, according to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said that Putin is "killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace." London has summoned the Russian ambassador, British foreign secretary David Lammy said in a post on social media, adding: "the killing and destruction must stop." Later Thursday, the Spanish foreign ministry said it had summoned the Russian embassy's charge d'affaires in protest of the "unacceptable attack." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Moscow of targeting diplomats "in direct breach of the Vienna convention" and called for "worldwide condemnation" in a statement on X. The White House's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, also condemned the overnight strikes, writing on X that "these egregious attacks threaten the peace that (Trump) is pursuing." Vitaliy Protsiuk, a resident of Kyiv, told CNN that his wife has been missing since the attack. The couple were getting ready to go to their building's bomb shelter when there was an "explosion," Protsiuk said. "I was buried," he continued. "When I came out, everything was covered in dust and smoke. I looked up – the roof was gone, and the floors from the fourth to the first were completely destroyed. "As of now, my wife hasn't been found. Her phone doesn't respond. She's not listed anywhere. I don't know... we're still searching," Protsiuk added. Residents endured an air raid alert lasting more than nine hours overnight, according to interior minister Ihor Klymenko. Agency pictures showed locals flocking once more to subway stations where many spent the night. Residents were advised to "stay in shelters" during the strikes and the all-clear was announced shortly before 7am local time. The major attack on Ukraine's capital comes just over two weeks after Trump held face to face talks with Putin, seeking to secure and end the war. But momentum around the discussions has stalled, with no sign that a bilateral meeting the White House has pushed between Zelensky and Putin will take place. On Wednesday, Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelensky's office, and Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, met with Saudi Arabia's defense minister to discuss an end to the conflict. A delegation from Ukraine is also set to meet US officials in New York on Friday, according to Zelensky. Meanwhile, Putin is set to travel to China next week to attend a massive military parade. Other guests will include North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as Russia-friendly European leaders such as Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Slovakia's Robert Fico. The attack on Kyiv is the latest in a series of Russian assaults across Ukraine this week. 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. Friday has been declared a day of mourning in Kyiv, according to city authorities. Flags will be flown at half-mast, with entertainment events canceled, it said. — CNN
