Russian attack includes strikes on center of Kyiv, killing at least 19

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a major air attack early Thursday on Kyiv that included a rare strike on the city center, killing at least 19 people, wounding 48 and damaging European Union diplomatic offices, authorities said.

The bombardment of drones and missiles was the first major Russian attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S.-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction . Britain said the attack sabotaged peace efforts, while top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas summoned Russia’s EU envoy to Brussels over the strikes that damaged EU offices.

Ukraine on Thursday requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the overnight bombardment, while two of Ukraine’s top envoys were set to meet Friday with the Trump administration regarding mediation.

The Kremlin said Russia remained interested in continuing peace talks despite Thursday’s air attack, which was one of the war’s biggest since it began in 2022.

Among the dead were four children between 2 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. He said up to 10 more people could still be under the rubble.

Rare attack on center of Kyiv

The attack was one of the few times Russian drones and missiles have penetrated the heart of Kyiv since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of different types across the country early Thursday, most of them striking targets in Kyiv.

At least 33 locations across all 10 of the city’s districts were directly hit or damaged by debris, Tkachenko said. Thousands of windows shattered as nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a shopping mall in the city center.

Oleksandr Khilko arrived at the scene after a missile hit the residential building where his sister lives in the capital’s Darnytsia district. He heard screams from people who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors, including a boy.

“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” Khilko said, his clothes covered in dust and the tips of his fingers black with soot. “With every cell of my body I want this war to end as soon as possible. I wait, but every time the air raid alarm sounds, I am afraid.”

Sophia Akylina said her home in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district was damaged.

“It’s never happened before that they attacked so close,” the 21-year old said. “Negotiations haven’t yielded anything yet, unfortunately people are suffering.”

A pile of shattered glass from a storefront window sits outside a salon as a hairdresser shampoos a client's hair, after Russia's drone and missile attack that damaged residential buildings in central Kyiv, Aug. 28, 2025 (Danylo Antoniuk/AP)

EU and UK summon Russian envoys after strikes hit their buildings

European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said two strikes landed 20 seconds apart about 50 meters (165 feet) from the EU Mission to Ukraine building in Kyiv. She said no staff were injured in the strike.

“No diplomatic mission should ever be a target. In response, we are summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said Thursday in a post on X.

The British Council, which promotes cultural relations and educational opportunities, also said its Kyiv office had been “severely damaged” in the attack and was closed to visitors until further notice.

The organization posted a photo showing the building with its windows and entrance smashed open and surrounded by glass and debris. A guard was injured and is “shaken but stable,” council chief executive Scott McDonald posted on X.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “sabotaging” hopes of peace following the “senseless” strikes. The Russian ambassador to London was summoned to the foreign office.

Diplomatic efforts to reach peace have stalled

Thursday’s attack is the first major combined Russian mass drone and missile attack to strike Kyiv since U.S. President Donald Trump met with Putin in Alaska earlier this month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine .

“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X following the attack. “We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions.”

While a diplomatic push to end the war appeared to gain momentum shortly after that meeting, few details have emerged about the next steps.

Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian military leaders conceded Russian forces have broken into an eighth region of Ukraine seeking to capture more ground.

Zelenskyy hopes for harsher U.S. sanctions to cripple the Russian economy if Putin does not demonstrate seriousness about ending the war. He reiterated those demands following Thursday’s attack.

Trump bristled this week at Putin’s stalling on an American proposal for direct peace talks with Zelenskyy. Trump said Friday he expects to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks aren’t scheduled.

Russia says it targeted ‘military-industrial complex’

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it carried out a strike against military air bases and companies “within Ukraine’s military-industrial complex” using long-range weapons, including Kinzhal missiles.

“All designated objects were hit,” the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine has ramped up domestic arms production to fight Russia’s invasion. Many weapons factories operate covertly, with some embedded in civilian areas with superior air defenses. Indiscriminate Russian attacks claiming to target Ukraine’s defense industry have killed many civilians.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said it shot down 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in the country’s southwest. A drone attack sparked a blaze at the Afipsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, local officials said, while a second fire was reported at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region.

Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks in an attempt to weaken Russia’s war economy, causing gas stations in some Russian regions to run dry and prices to spike.

Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported damage to its infrastructure in the Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, causing delays and requiring trains to use alternative routes.

Associated Press journalists Yehor Konovalov, Vasilisa Stepanenko, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sam McNeil in Brussels and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

乌克兰基辅（美联社）——当局称，俄罗斯周四凌晨对基辅发动了一次大规模空袭，其中包括对市中心的一次罕见袭击，造成至少 19 人死亡，48 人受伤，并损坏了欧盟外交机构。

在以美国为首的旨在结束这场持续三年战争的和平努力举步维艰之际，俄罗斯对基辅发动了数周以来的首次大规模无人机和导弹袭击。英国称此次袭击破坏了和平进程，而欧盟高级外交官卡娅·卡拉斯就此次袭击破坏欧盟办事处一事召见了俄罗斯驻布鲁塞尔欧盟大使。

周四，乌克兰请求联合国安理会召开紧急会议，讨论夜间轰炸事件；与此同时，乌克兰的两名高级特使定于周五与特朗普政府会面，商讨调解事宜。

克里姆林宫表示，尽管周四发生了自2​​022年战争爆发以来规模最大的空袭之一，但俄罗斯仍然有兴趣继续进行和平谈判。

基辅市行政长官季穆尔·特卡琴科表示，死者中有四名年龄在2岁至17岁之间的儿童。他还说，可能还有多达10人被埋在废墟下。

基辅市中心遭遇罕见袭击

这是自全面入侵开始以来，俄罗斯无人机和导弹极少数几次深入基辅市中心的一次袭击。

乌克兰空军称，俄罗斯周四清晨在乌克兰境内发射了 598 架攻击型无人机和诱饵以及 31 枚不同类型的导弹，其中大部分袭击了基辅的目标。

特卡琴科表示，该市10个区至少有33处地点直接被碎片击中或受损。近百栋建筑受损，包括市中心的一家购物中心，数千扇窗户破碎。

奥列克桑德·希尔科在首都达尼察区一枚导弹击中他姐姐居住的居民楼后赶到现场。他听到被困在废墟下的人们的呼救声，并救出了三名幸存者，其中包括一名男孩。

“袭击平民太不人道了，”希尔科说道，他的衣服上满是灰尘，指尖也被煤烟熏黑了。“我发自内心地希望这场战争尽快结束。我一直在等待，但每次空袭警报响起，我都感到恐惧。”

索菲娅·阿基利娜说，她在基辅霍洛西伊夫斯基区的家遭到了破坏。

这位21岁的年轻人说：“他们以前从未在如此近的距离发动袭击。不幸的是，谈判至今没有任何成果，人们正在遭受苦难。”

2025年8月28日，俄罗斯无人机和导弹袭击基辅市中心，造成居民楼受损。一家理发店的橱窗玻璃被砸碎，一堆玻璃散落在店外，一名理发师正在给顾客洗头。（Danylo Antoniuk/AP）

欧盟和英国召见俄罗斯特使，此前两国建筑物遭到袭击。

欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩表示，两枚炸弹相隔20秒落在距离欧盟驻乌克兰代表团位于基辅的办公楼约50米（165英尺）处。她说，没有工作人员在袭击中受伤。

“任何外交使团都不应该成为攻击目标。作为回应，我们正在召见俄罗斯驻布鲁塞尔大使，”欧盟最高外交官卡娅·卡拉斯周四在X网站上发帖称。

致力于促进文化交流和教育机会的英国文化协会也表示，其基辅办事处在袭击中遭到“严重破坏”，并将无限期关闭，不对访客开放。

该组织发布了一张照片，照片显示建筑物的窗户和入口被砸碎，周围散落着玻璃碎片和瓦砾。一名保安受伤，目前“受到惊吓但情况稳定”，市议会首席执行官斯科特·麦克唐纳在X上发布了这条消息。

英国首相基尔·斯塔默表示，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京发动的“毫无意义”的袭击正在“破坏”和平的希望。俄罗斯驻伦敦大使已被召至外交部。

旨在实现和平的外交努力陷入停滞。

周四的袭击是自美国总统唐纳德·特朗普本月早些时候在阿拉斯加与普京会晤讨论结束乌克兰战争以来，俄罗斯首次对基辅发动大规模无人机和导弹联合袭击。

袭击发生后，乌克兰总统泽连斯基在X网站上发帖称：“俄罗斯选择使用武器而非谈判桌。我们期待全世界所有呼吁和平的人做出回应，但现在他们往往保持沉默，而不是采取原则性立场。”

虽然在那次会晤后不久，结束战争的外交努力似乎取得了进展，但关于下一步措施的细节却很少出现。

西方领导人指责普京在和平进程中拖延不决，回避严肃谈判，而与此同时，俄军却不断深入乌克兰腹地。本周，乌克兰军方领导人承认，俄军已入侵乌克兰第八个地区，企图夺取更多领土。

泽连斯基希望，如果普京不表现出结束战争的诚意，美国将实施更严厉的制裁，以重创俄罗斯经济。在周四的袭击事件发生后，他重申了这些要求。

本周，普京迟迟不肯接受美国提出的与泽连斯基直接进行和平谈判的提议，这激怒了特朗普。特朗普周五表示，如果两周内仍未安排直接会谈，他预计将在两周内决定下一步行动。

俄罗斯称其目标是“军工复合体”。

俄罗斯国防部表示，它使用包括“匕首”导弹在内的远程武器，对“乌克兰军工联合体内部”的军事空军基地和公司进行了打击。

该部在一份声明中表示：“所有指定目标均被击中。”

乌克兰已大幅提升国内武器生产能力以对抗俄罗斯的入侵。许多武器工厂秘密运作，部分工厂甚至设在防空系统较为完善的平民区内。俄罗斯声称以乌克兰国防工业为目标的无差别袭击已造成大量平民伤亡。

俄罗斯国防部还表示，一夜之间击落了102架乌克兰无人机，其中大部分位于乌克兰西南部。当地官员称，一架无人机袭击引发了克拉斯诺达尔边疆区阿菲普斯基炼油厂的火灾，萨马拉边疆区新库伊比雪夫斯克炼油厂也报告了一起火灾。

最近几周，乌克兰无人机多次袭击炼油厂和其他石油基础设施，试图削弱俄罗斯的战时经济，导致俄罗斯一些地区的加油站汽油短缺，油价飙升。

乌克兰国家铁路运营商 Ukrzaliznytsia 报告称，其位于文尼察和基辅地区的铁路基础设施遭到破坏，导致列车延误，不得不改用其他路线。

美联社记者叶霍尔·科诺瓦洛夫、瓦西丽莎·斯捷潘年科、伊利亚·诺维科夫（乌克兰基辅）、萨姆·麦克尼尔（布鲁塞尔）和凯蒂·玛丽·戴维斯（英国曼彻斯特）对本报道亦有贡献。