Kyiv missile strikes kill at least nine

The strikes came on Saturday morning.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Kyiv had come under a ballistic missile attack, with AFP reporting more than 10 explosions. Fires broke out across the city and power cuts were reported in some districts. A residential building in Shevchenkivskyi was partially destroyed, trapping people inside. The escalation comes amid heightened tensions with Russia felt well beyond Ukraine's borders.

Emergency services said at least seven people were killed in the Darnytskyi district, where 14 others were injured, including two children. In Solomyanskyi, two people died and eight were hurt, among them two children, when a five-storey residential block was partially destroyed. A missile also landed near the Lithuanian embassy, breaking windows and scattering debris, Lithuania's foreign ministry said.

Zelensky renews plea over Kyiv defences

Moscow has intensified its ballistic missile campaign against Kyiv in recent weeks, and Zelensky has warned that missile interceptors are urgently needed. The strikes come two days after a suspected Russian cruise missile landed in Poland during a widespread attack on Ukraine that killed at least eight people, including six members of one family.