Published On 2/7/2026
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Last update: 13:58 (Mecca time)
Late Wednesday evening, Russia launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and other regions, killing at least 17 people and wounding 56 others.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said – in a post on the Telegram application – that it launched a large-scale attack on Kiev and other sites, using long-range, high-precision weapons and drones that it launched from the air, land and sea.
The ministry explained that it targeted military installations and energy facilities around Kiev, in addition to military airports in several regions, including Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk, in what it described as a response to Ukraine’s attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The Ukrainian Air Force Command reported that the Russian army used 74 missiles of various types in its attacks, including cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and hypersonic missiles, and also launched 496 drones.
She added that the Ukrainian air defense forces were able to neutralize 48 missiles and 476 drones.
The Ukrainian Emergency Authority said that the number of victims of the Russian attack on Kiev at dawn on Thursday had risen to 17 people.
Massive fires
Explosions were heard in central and eastern Kiev after the Ukrainian Air Force warned of several missiles approaching the city. The Russian attack came hours after Ukraine bombed an oil refinery and a weapons factory in Russia.
The governor of the Kiev region, Mykola Kalashnik, said that the attack caused fires and damage to buildings throughout the region, noting that it was carried out using drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles.
Kalashnik added that emergency crews were struggling to extinguish fires that broke out in warehouses and in a house in the Bucha area, and other homes, a student residence, and vehicles were damaged in various places in the area.
Timur Tkachenko, head of the military administration of the capital, Kiev, said earlier Thursday morning that 8 people were killed and more than 30 sites were damaged across the city as a result of the attacks, most of which were residential buildings and civilian infrastructure facilities, denouncing the clear intent to target residential areas and civilians.
For his part, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported – on Telegram – that a fire had broken out that had consumed the roof of a hotel located on the main Shevchenko Street, and pictures published on the Internet showed a massive fire that had gotten out of control at the top of the building.
There was also a partial collapse of a 9-storey building following a direct Russian strike, according to what Reuters quoted the mayor of Kiev as saying.
Klitschko said in a previous post that the injured included paramedics and drivers at an ambulance center, and that some people were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.
The mayor of Kiev called on citizens to stay in shelters, and unofficial channels on Telegram circulated pictures of people rushing to subway stations to escape the Russian bombing.
Zelensky shortens his visit to Ireland
The Moscow attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that intelligence reports indicated the possibility of a night attack on the country.
Following the new attack on Kiev, Kiev requested more support from its allies to strengthen its air defenses, especially a license from the United States allowing the production of Patriot missiles.
President Zelensky said hours after the Russian strikes, “We are counting a lot on a decision from the United States regarding Patriot authorizations and other forms of cooperation. These are the measures that can stop this war and prevent attacks like this.”
Prior to that, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepiga urged his country’s allies to send more air defense systems.
Zelensky announced that he would shorten his stay in Ireland, which he is visiting on the occasion of the start of Ireland’s rotating presidency of the European Union, which will last 6 months.
He said in a press conference, “I call on our people to be extremely careful and protect themselves, their children, and of course their families, and to take shelter in shelters,” noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been “preparing for this massive attack against Ukraine for a long time.”
Zelensky had previously announced that Ukrainian forces bombed for the second time an oil refinery in the Russian city of Ufa, which is more than 1,300 kilometers away from the front line.
He described this as a completely fair response to everything Russia is doing against his country, pointing to the implementation of a strike on what he described as a “strategic” military industrial facility in the Penza region, which manufactures missile components used by Moscow in its attacks on Ukraine.
Moscow accuses Ukraine of escalation
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Ukraine does not seek to settle the conflict, accusing Zelensky of escalating the war and targeting civilians and infrastructure inside Russia.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has escalated its attacks with long-range drones deep inside Russia, targeting energy infrastructure and military targets.
Russian officials reported repeated strikes in border areas, while Moscow announced that its air defenses intercepted hundreds of drones launched from Ukraine over the past few days.
A study published by the American Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday showed that the Russian-Ukrainian war caused the deaths of more than two million people among the military.
Moscow and Kiev have recently intensified their mutual attacks at a time when diplomacy has so far failed to mediate an end to the worst conflict Europe has witnessed since World War II.
