Kyiv Mourns 30 Dead as Rescuers Search for Ten Missing
Kyiv observed an official day of mourning as the confirmed toll from Thursday’s barrage stood at 30 dead and 92 wounded, with ten people still missing and rescue work continuing at three locations. More than 100 residential buildings were damaged in the deadliest strike on the capital this year. A further overnight drone strike on the Sumy region killed four, including a mother and her toddler daughter. President Zelensky said Russia “has no argument left for its war other than its ballistic missiles”.
Moscow presents the escalating air campaign as retaliation for Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries, which have pushed pump prices inside Russia past 100 roubles a litre and produced genuine fuel shortages. Russia’s defence ministry also claimed the capture of Oleksandrivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region — a reminder that the ground offensive grinds on while the missiles fly. Kyiv’s request to Washington has sharpened accordingly: licences to manufacture Patriot interceptors in Ukraine, not just faster deliveries, because roughly a third of what Russia now fires is ballistic. Watch next week’s NATO summit in Turkey, where both Trump and Zelensky are expected.