Russia hits Ukrainian capital with ballistic missiles and drones killing 3 and wounding over a dozen
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Russia launched ballistic missiles and drones at Kyiv overnight into Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding over a dozen, according to local authorities.
- Mayor Vitalii Klitschko reported damage to a five-story residential building in the Solomianskyi District with people believed still trapped and a courtyard fire, plus a partial collapse on the first and second floors of another residential building in Shevchenkivskyi with people reportedly trapped inside.
- Warehouse buildings in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district were also on fire from the barrage, Klitschko said on Telegram.
- The attack came two days after a large-scale Russian missile and drone strike across Ukraine killed 10 civilians and wounded more than 50, during which a Russian missile entered Polish airspace.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Friday he had spoken with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and described his earlier Washington meeting with President Donald Trump as "positive and productive," reiterating that Patriot interceptors against ballistic missiles remain Ukraine's top air defense priority.
- Donald Trump told a Cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday that he had not yet made a final decision on sending Patriot systems to Ukraine, appearing to step back from a July NATO-summit commitment in Ankara to give Ukraine a license to manufacture them.
- JD Vance was the specific U.S. official Zelenskyy engaged Friday as Kyiv presses for additional air defense ahead of further expected Russian strikes.
Why it matters: Russia's escalating strikes on residential Kyiv — three districts hit in one night, just 48 hours after a 10-civilin attack that also crossed into Polish airspace — underscore the urgency behind Zelenskyy's renewed push for Patriot interceptors, the very weapons Trump publicly wavered on the same day at Camp David.
