Russian strikes on Kyiv kill at least nine, Ukraine officials say
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- Russian ballistic missiles struck residential buildings across Kyiv on Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring at least 23 — including two children — per Ukraine's State Emergency Service
- Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported more than 10 explosions, with seven killed in Darnytskyi district and two killed in Solomyanskyi district, where a five-storey residential building was partially destroyed and fires broke out citywide
- The strikes came two days after a suspected Russian cruise missile landed in Poland during a broader attack on Ukraine that killed at least eight people, including six members of one family near Kryvyi Rih
- President Zelensky met Trump in Washington this week seeking a licence for Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors; Trump said the US had not agreed but talks were ongoing, calling it "a big step"
- Trump's stance has shifted from offering Ukraine Patriot production rights weeks ago to now warning "those people that you give that technology, they can someday turn on you"
- Zelensky said he followed up the Washington meeting with a "good" phone call with US Vice-President JD Vance, calling Patriot interceptors against ballistic missiles a top priority
- Ukraine has retaliated with escalating strikes on Russian logistics, including drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses Kyiv says supply the Russian army
Why it matters: Nine civilians — including children — killed in a single morning shows how exposed Kyiv remains as Russia's ballistic missile campaign intensifies, and the Patriot shortage is now an operational bottleneck. Trump's pivot from offering production rights weeks ago to calling the technology transfer "a big step" leaves Ukraine's only proven ballistic-missile countermeasure stuck in Washington as winter approaches.
