Russia fired missiles and drones into apartment buildings in Kyiv for the second time in a week on Monday, killing at least 18 people on the eve of a crucial NATO summit, authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the alliance to take “strong decisions” on boosting Ukraine’s air defences following the strike, which came just days after another Russian attack killed more than 30 people in Kyiv.
The European Union also said that Ukraine needed air defence reinforcements.
The morning strike punched a crater into a multi-storey apartment block in the Ukrainian capital, ripping its top floors into two.
AFP reporters heard more than 10 explosions during a ballistic missile alert during the night, with flashes in the sky as the blasts rang out.
It was the second attack in a week in which Russia deployed hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles—triggering Zelensky’s desperate new appeal for allies to send missiles for the US-made Patriot air defence systems.
He is set to discuss the war with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, which begins Tuesday.
“It is critically important that the world –- first and foremost the United States and our European partners –- come out of the NATO summit in Ankara with strong decisions in support of our air defense, and thus the protection of ordinary people’s lives,” he said on social media.
At least 18 people were killed in Kyiv and the surrounding region, with around 60 wounded, according to officials.
Russia fired 68 missiles and 351 attack drones, Zelensky said.
Officials in the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve said they had evacuated residents because unexploded munitions could be in the debris.