Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Russian bombardments killed at least 13 people in Ukraine's capital and its surrounding region overnight, authorities said on Thursday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urging a global response to Moscow's "escalation" of the four-year war.
Issued on: 20/08/2026 - 10:04
3 min Reading time
In the early morning hours, rescuers in Kyiv were sifting through the rubble of destroyed buildings, including a damaged children's hospital, while grieving families watched as two bodies were pulled out of an apartment block."There used to be a building here, and now it's gone," said 45-year-old resident Maria Abramova. She had only just reached her children's room after the air raid alert sounded when explosions rang out, blowing her windows out and "nearly killing" her husband.The ballistic missiles that Moscow increasingly fires at Kyiv fly up to thousands of kilometres per hour and reach Kyiv within minutes of an air raid warning.
The conflict has spiralled into Europe's deadliest since World War II © Eugene KOTENKO / AFP
