Ukraine government building in Kyiv catches fire in Russian attack, several structures destroyed

A fire broke out on the top of an administrative building in Kyiv’s Pecherskyi district following a Russian attack on the city, Timur Tkachenko, head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, said on Sunday via social media. Witnesses saw thick smoke rising from the main building of the Ukrainian government, Reuters reported.

Three people, including an infant, were killed in Russia’s overnight attacks on Kyiv, while 18 others were injured, Ukrainian officials said. Scores of buildings in the capital, including the seat of the government, were set ablaze. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the assault began with drones raining down on the city, followed by missile strikes.

The drone attacks killed the infant and a young woman, Klitschko said on the Telegram messaging app, while a pregnant woman was among five people hospitalised. Earlier, an elderly woman died in a bomb shelter in the leafy Darnytskyi district to the east of the Dnipro River, the site of the other two deaths.

State emergency officials reported that a fire broke out on two of the four stories of a residential building in Darnytskyi, partially destroying its structure. In Kyiv’s western Sviatoshynskyi district, several floors of a nine-storey residential building were partially destroyed, Klitschko and emergency officials said.

Falling drone debris also set off fires in a 16-storey apartment building and two more nine-storey buildings. Social media photographs posted by emergency officials showed smoke billowing out of apartment buildings, with some floors partially collapsed and facades crumbled.

Russia, Tkachenko said on Telegram, was “deliberately and consciously striking civilian targets”.

Dozens of explosions shook Ukraine’s central city of Kremenchuk, cutting power to some areas, Mayor Vitalii Maletskyi said on Telegram.

Russian strikes on Kryvyi Rih targeted transport and urban infrastructure, Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration, said, though no injuries were reported. In southern Ukraine, civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were damaged in Odesa, with fires breaking out in several apartment blocks, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

Moscow did not immediately comment on the attacks. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians, though thousands have died since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

With western Ukraine facing the threat of air attacks, Poland activated its own and allied aircraft to ensure air safety, the operational command of the Polish armed forces said.

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