Firefighters work at the site of a burning building after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 28, 2025. EFREM LUKATSKY / AP
Russia fired 629 drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight – the second highest figure of the entire war – Ukraine's air force said Thursday, August 28, killing at least 18 people in the capital Kyiv, including four children, wounding 48 and damaging European Union diplomatic offices, authorities said. The air force said on social media that Moscow had launched 598 drones and 31 missiles – including two hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and nine ballistic missiles, whose speed make them hard to intercept.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strikes represented a clear disregard for peace negotiations. Russia has rained down aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities despite US President Donald Trump's push for a ceasefire and even as it talks up the importance of ending the war, triggered by its February 2022 full-scale invasion.
At dawn, residents and emergency service workers were clearing debris from streets strewn with broken glass and building materials, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist at the scene of one strike in central Kyiv saw. The attack blasted a five-story crater in one apartment block, ripping the building in two, images posted by Zelensky showed.
