Russia hit Ukraine’s capital with drone and missiles on September 7 in the largest aerial attack since the war began, killing four people across the country and damaging a key government building.
Russia attacked with 810 drones and decoys, Ukraine’s air force said, adding it shot down 747 drones and four missiles.
Associated Press reporters saw a plume of smoke rising from the roof of Kyiv’s government headquarters. It was not immediately clear if the smoke was the result of a direct hit or debris, which would mark an escalation in Russia’s air campaign, which has so far spared government buildings in the city center.
The building is the home of Ukraine’s Cabinet and its ministers. Police blocked access to the building as fire trucks and ambulances arrived.
Yuriy Ihnat, an air force spokesperson, confirmed that the attack was the largest Russian drone strike since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia also launched 13 missiles. Hits from nine missiles and 54 drones were recorded at 33 locations across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that four people were killed and 44 wounded. He said he spoke on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron about the attack.
“Together with France, we are preparing new measures to strengthen our defense,” Zelenskyy said.
Marcon earlier on September 7 accused Russia of “striking indiscriminately” and said Moscow “is locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned the attack. “These cowardly strikes show that Putin believes he can act with impunity. He is not serious about peace. Now, more than ever, we must stand firm in our support for Ukraine and its sovereignty,” Starmer said in a statement.
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS HIT IN KYIV
In the Ukrainian capital, the attack killed two people and wounded 20 others, according to city officials.
Those killed were a mother and her 3-month-old child, whose bodies were dug out of the rubble, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. At least 10 locations in Kyiv were damaged, he added. Direct drone hits struck a nine-story residential building in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district and a four-story residential building in Darnytskyi district.
“I just have no more words left to express what I feel towards Russia,” said Olha, a 77-year-old Kyiv resident whose apartment was damaged. She didn’t give her last name. “Although I’m an ethnic Russian myself, from outside Moscow. And I’ve never thought my people would be capable of this.”
Zelenskyy called for sanctions on Russia and for strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses.
“Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have started long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” he said. “The world can force the Kremlin criminals to stop killing; only political will is needed.”
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a video of herself inside the damaged government building, where she said a fire covering 800 square meters (8,600 square feet) was put out.
“For the first time since the start of full-scale invasion, Russians struck our government headquarters in the center of Kyiv,” she said.
“It looks like Russia is not seeking peace and is not ready for negotiations. We call our partners to help close our sky. Let’s strengthen sanctions against Russia. Let’s create the security guarantees system that will help stop the enemy,” she said.
RUSSIA TARGETED CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it used “high-precision weapons” to strike drone facilities and military bases. In reality, the attacks caused widespread destruction of civilian homes and a key government building in central Kyiv. Residential towers, apartment blocks, and nonmilitary sites were hit across the capital and other cities — a continuation of Russia’s pattern of deliberately targeting noncombatants.
Emergency crews pulled the bodies of a mother and her infant from the rubble of a residential building. Survivors, including children and the elderly, were left homeless amid scorched ruins. This follows months of similar assaults where Russia has struck hospitals, schools, and energy infrastructure under the false pretense of military objectives.
Despite the Kremlin’s denials, the documented impact zones, including civilian high-rises and government offices with no military function, offer clear evidence of a coordinated campaign to terrorize the population.
Russia’s repeated insistence that it avoids civilian casualties is contradicted by its escalating pattern of mass strikes on urban areas, now culminating in a direct hit on Ukraine’s Cabinet headquarters.
The September 7 attack is the second mass Russian drone and missile attack to target Kyiv in the span of two weeks, as hopes for peace talks wane – despite Trump’s bragging that only he could end the war.
It comes after European leaders pressed Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to work to end the war after 26 of Ukraine’s allies pledged to deploy troops as a “reassurance force” for the war-torn country once the fighting ends.
Zelenskyy has said he is ready to meet Putin to negotiate a peace agreement, and has urged Trump to impose punishing sanctions on Russia to push it to end the war.
