Russian missiles strike Kyiv residential buildings and children's hospital, killing at least three

Russian ballistic missiles killed at least three people and injured 20 others in Kyiv early on Thursday, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who posted the figures on Telegram, with strikes hitting residential buildings, warehouses, and a children's hospital and leaving portions of the city without power.

A fire broke out on the upper floors of a nine-storey residential building following the attack, Klitschko said, and people were reported trapped at a separate location. A Reuters witness heard more than a dozen explosions. One additional person was killed in the region surrounding the capital, according to a local official cited by The Straits Times.

According to The Straits Times, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged attacks daily since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and diplomatic efforts involving the United States and Europe have not produced a lasting ceasefire.

Ukraine has submitted proposals to U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner aimed at ending the war, President Volodymyr Zelensky said this month, according to The Straits Times. Witkoff and Kushner last visited Moscow in January and have not yet travelled to Kyiv. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Izvestia newspaper that Moscow had not received specific proposals for new meetings with U.S. negotiators but said Russia would be prepared to arrange a meeting on short notice.

Separately, Ukraine's recently dismissed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections in a video address posted on YouTube on Tuesday evening, according to the Jerusalem Post. Fedorov, who was fired from the defence ministry in July after approximately six months in the role, described the situation as a 'systemic crisis of governance' and argued that a legal mechanism should be established to allow democratic renewal during the ongoing conflict.

Ukraine's law prohibits holding elections during wartime. According to the Jerusalem Post, Fedorov's call was the first such demand by a prominent Ukrainian political figure since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Zelensky's office did not immediately respond to Fedorov's statement.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Fedorov did not state in his address whether he intended to stand as a candidate in any election, though a recent poll cited by that outlet indicated he would comfortably defeat Zelensky in a runoff vote. Protests calling for Fedorov's reinstatement and the dismissal of armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi have continued in Kyiv for roughly a month, still drawing several thousand attendees though with reduced momentum from their early peak, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Fedorov's address came hours after Zelensky confirmed he had asked parliament to confirm Yevhenii Khmara as the new defence minister, according to the Jerusalem Post. Fedorov, who previously served six years as Ukraine's digitalization minister and was the youngest minister in the country's history when appointed to that post at age 28, has said he believes his reform of the defence ministry's procurement processes contributed to his dismissal.

• The total number of casualties in the Kyiv region, combining city and surrounding area figures, is not confirmed across both sources.
• The specific targets Russia says it was striking, or any official Russian statement on the missile attack, are not included in any source.
• The condition of those trapped in buildings after the strike is not reported.
• The status or details of the children's hospital struck are not elaborated upon.
• The content of Ukraine's specific war-ending proposals submitted to U.S. negotiators is not disclosed.
• Whether Fedorov intends to run as a candidate in any potential election is not established.
• The methodology or sample size of the poll showing Fedorov leading Zelensky in a runoff is not described.
• Zelensky's office has not provided a substantive response to Fedorov's call for elections.
• The current legal or parliamentary steps, if any, being considered to enable wartime elections are not described.
• No response from armed forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi to Fedorov's public criticism appears in any source.

1. The Straits Times — original — by The Straits Times
2. The Jerusalem Post — by REUTERS

Read the original at The Straits Times

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