Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early on Sunday, killing four people and setting government offices in Kyiv ablaze, an attack Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned would prolong the war.
Flames could be seen rising from the roof of the sprawling government complex that houses Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in the heart of the city — the first time it has been hit during the three-and-a-half-year conflict.
Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in the Ukrainian capital, according to emergency services.
Russia has shown no sign of halting its onslaught despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal, and Kyiv residents have become hardened to the daily rhythm of strikes and alerts.
“This is already routine for us, unfortunately,” Olga, a 30-year-old resident of a damaged building, told AFP after the latest strikes. An AFP reporter saw helicopters dropping buckets of water over the government building’s roof, as emergency services rushed to the scene.
Enemy ‘terrorises’
Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine.
It said it struck a plant and a logistics hub in Kyiv, with the Russian defence ministry saying “no strikes were carried out on other targets within the boundaries of Kyiv”.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a video showing a damaged floor in the government building.
“We will restore the buildings,” she said. “But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country.”
A firefighter helicopter flies amid the smoke from Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine on September 7. — AFP
Russia fired at least 810 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday in a new record, according to the Ukrainian air force.
“Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” Zelensky said.
He discussed the attack in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron and said France would help Ukraine strengthen its defence.
Macron was among European leaders condemning the attack, posting on X that Russia was “locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror”.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attacks “cowardly” while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen accused the Kremlin of “mocking diplomacy”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was prepared to increase pressure on Russia by slapping tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil.
“The Russian economy will be in full collapse. And that will bring President (Vladimir) Putin to the table,” Bessent told NBC Television.
Horses killed
At least two people were killed in a strike west of Kyiv, prosecutors said. More than two dozen were wounded in Kyiv, according to the emergency services.
Among them was a 24-year-old pregnant woman who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, with doctors fighting to save her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported.
People sit in a shelter during Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine on September 7AFP)
Two more died and dozens were wounded in overnight strikes across the east and southeast, authorities said. Ukraine’s foreign ministry highlighted that seven horses had also been killed at an equestrian club.
“The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives — human or animal — every single day,” it posted on X.
The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to oversee any agreement to end the war, some of whom said they were willing to deploy troops on the ground.
Ukraine has insisted on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks, but Putin has warned that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.
US President Donald Trump has tried to find a way to end the war in recent weeks but has little to show for his efforts.
On Sunday, Trump said he was prepared to move forward on new sanctions on Moscow, hours after Russia’s aerial barrage.
Speaking outside the White House, he replied “yeah, I am” when asked if he was ready to impose more sanctions against Russia, without giving further details.
Russia has continued to claim territory in costly grinding battles and now occupies around 20 per cent of Ukraine. Tens of thousands have been killed and millions forced from their homes in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
