Russian forces attacked Ukraine's capital with drones and ballistic missiles early Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 16 as residential buildings collapsed and trapped civilians under rubble. The assault on Kyiv marked the second devastating strike in as many days, underscoring the human toll of continued attacks on civilian areas.
Damage was recorded across six districts of Kyiv, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's Military Administration, who said Russia was attacking the capital with ballistic missiles and drones. Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged.
Civilians Buried Under Rubble
In the Darnytsia district, a multistory residential building partially collapsed, splitting the structure in half and burying people under the rubble. Ukraine's Emergency Service said at least 10 people were rescued from the rubble. Emergency workers searched for survivors as smoke from the attack continued to smolder beneath the pile of rubble.
Resident Lyudmila Hlushko, 78, said she heard a lot of explosions and the sound of rockets flying around 3 a.m. "Then the house shook violently and there was a loud bang, breaking the glass in my house," she said. In the Dnieper district, a drone hit the roof of a five-story residential building, Tkachenko said, and another building in the Dniprovskyi district was also damaged.
Escalating Attacks on Population Centers
The attack came hours after a rare daytime attack on Kyiv that killed at least six people, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That assault involved 800 drones, struck about 20 regions of Ukraine and was among the longest such attacks during the war. Zelenskyy said the attack that lasted hours Wednesday aimed to cause as much "pain and grief" as possible.
Diplomatic Efforts Stalled as Violence Continues
The attack came after U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting. Putin said in a speech last weekend that his invasion of Ukraine is possibly "coming to an end." But neither leader has provided details about what has changed to make a peace deal possible. Moscow and Kyiv maintain mutually exclusive demands.
U.S.-led diplomatic efforts over the past year to end the war have fizzled after making no progress on key issues, such as whether Russia gets to keep Ukrainian land it has seized and what can be done to deter Moscow from invading again.
Separately, a photo showed Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arriving at the Bucharest B9 summit held at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
Why This Matters:
The continued targeting of residential neighborhoods in Kyiv reveals the devastating human cost borne by Ukrainian civilians, who face attacks on their homes with no meaningful protection or accountability for those launching strikes on population centers. The collapse of apartment buildings and the burying of residents under rubble demonstrates how ordinary people—including elderly civilians like 78-year-old Lyudmila Hlushko—pay the price for geopolitical conflict. While diplomatic rhetoric suggests peace may be near, the intensification of attacks on civilian infrastructure raises urgent questions about the international community's ability to protect vulnerable populations and enforce humanitarian standards. The stalled diplomatic efforts, combined with escalating violence against residential areas, underscore the need for multilateral pressure and concrete security guarantees that address not just territorial disputes but the fundamental safety and rights of those living under threat of bombardment.