Mass attacks in Russia with missiles and drones against the capital of Ukraine cause at least 21 dead and damage the headquarters of the European Union

It is the most deadly Russian operation against the Ukrainian capital since July.

From Kyiv, the BBC correspondent Katy Watson reported that the rumble of aerial defenses trying to intercept Russian drones and missiles “woke up to all, even kilometers away.”

“The night was intense and, after a few weeks of relative calm, no one becomes illusions that this war will end soon,” he said.

Aliona Guseva, 31, who lives in an apartment in the center of the capital about 50 meters from a block of housing that was reached by Russian attacks, told the BBC: “I was sleeping in bed when I heard the explosion and woke up with missiles.”

“I could see everything from my window,” he explained, adding that despite being scared, he does not want to move elsewhere.

“My family lives here. My friends live here. I'm afraid, but I don't want to leave.”

Guseva described Kyiv as “two completely different cities” between day and night.

The missile wave occurred after more than 100,000 Ukrainian homes were left without electricity due to Russian drones attacks against energy infrastructure on Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, said Russia is still interested in peace negotiations, but warned that the “special military operation”, as Russia describes the war, “continues.”

Previously, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its country attacked military objectives in the regions of Sumy, Donetsk, Zaporiyia, Dnipropetrovsk, Jersón and Járkiv, without meriting night attacks against predominantly residential areas of the Ukrainian capital.

EUROPEAN UNION BUILDINGS AND THE British Consulate were damaged during attacks.

The British government summoned the Russian ambassador to London, Andrei Kelin on Thursday, in response to the last wave of attacks.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Vladimir Putin of “sabotaging the hopes of peace”, while the head of foreign policy of the Eutopea Union, Kaja Kallas, said they showed “a deliberate choice to climb and make fun of peace efforts.”

Previously, the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that describes the Russian night attacks in Kyiv as “outrageous attacks” and condemned the damage caused to the buildings of the British consulate and the missions of the European Union.

The attacks “will only reinforce the determination of the United Kingdom and the West of supporting Ukraine,” he said.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “Putin must sit at the negotiating table”, in an X publication.

“We must ensure a fair and lasting peace for Ukraine with firm and credible security guarantees that make the country a steel porcupine.”

Although the Kremlin said that Russia “was still interested” in the negotiations, von der Leyen said that the attacks were “another gloomy reminder” that Russia would not stop at anything to “terrorize Ukraine”, killing men, women and children and even attacking the European Union.

Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, condemned the military operation, ensuring that it is the second largest air attack since the beginning of the war.

“The objectives? They were not soldiers or weapons, but residential areas of Kyiv: civil trains, the offices of the European Union and the United Kingdom mission councils, and innocent civilians,” he wrote in a publication in the social network X.

“These atrocious attacks threaten peace,” he wrote.

LESS WATERHOUS ANALYSIS, BBC correspondent in Ukraine

The lethal Russian combination of drones and missiles is too familiar to the Ukrainians, but the attack last night was, in the words of an official, “peculiar.”

It is the first time that Kyiv suffers a great attack since Donald Trump received Vladimir Putin in Alaska two weeks ago.

At that time, the Russian leader was received with applause, and the US president later said: “Putin wants to make a deal for me.”

These attacks reinforce Europe's argument that Kremlin is not interested in peace, and will follow the calls for Trump to harden with Moscow.

Until now, Trump has resisted imposing more sanctions, although he has continued with even higher tariffs for India, an important Russian oil buyer.

He has frequently expressed his frustration for Russian air attacks, but for affected Ukrainian cities, it has not been enough to stop them.

Trump hoped to organize a summit between Zelenski and Putin, to end the war, but those efforts have stagnated.

He met with Putin in Alaska before talking with Zelenski and European leaders in Washington.

The president of Ukraine has supported the initiative, but the Kremlin has minimized any possibility of a Putin-Zelenski summit.

Despite the last setback, US officials will meet with a Ukrainian delegation in New York on Friday. Zelenski said they will discuss the “military, political and economic components of security guarantees” for Ukraine.

Ukraine is working with his European allies in guarantees aimed at preventing any future Russian attack in case of a peace agreement.

Russia states that it will not accept European troops on the ground and that negotiating them without the participation of Moscow is a “road without exit.”

Subscribe here To our new newsletter to receive every Friday a selection of our best content of the week.

And remember that you can receive notifications in our app. Download the latest version and act.