‘We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace’ Russian strike on Kyiv kills children as missile tears through apartment building

Russian forces launched a massive overnight strike on Kyiv on August 28, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens more, Ukrainian officials and emergency services said. One of the missiles hit a five-story apartment building in the Ukrainian capital’s Darnytskyi district, bringing down an entire section.

Among the dead are four children, including a two-year-old. At least 53 people were wounded in the attack, and many remain missing. Rescue workers are still searching the rubble. The destruction stretched across than 20 sites in six districts of the capital, damaging residential buildings, a kindergarten, a shopping center, an office building, a parking lot, and dozens of cars. Kyiv has declared August 29 a day of mourning for the victims.

Meduza shares photos of the attack’s aftermath.

According to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, Russian forces used Shahed attack drones and multiple types of missiles in the assault, including Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said a missile struck an apartment building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, bringing down an entire section of the structure. There may still be people trapped under the rubble.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as “a clear response to everyone in the world who, for weeks and months, has been calling for a ceasefire and for real diplomacy.”

“Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war. And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences. Russia still takes advantage of the fact that at least part of the world turns a blind eye to murdered children and seeks excuses for Putin,” Zelensky said.

He urged China and Hungary to respond to the strike. “China has repeatedly called for not expanding the war and for a ceasefire. Yet this is not happening because of Russia. We expect a reaction from Hungary.”

“The death of children should definitely stir far greater emotions than anything else,” he added. “We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions.”

Zelensky also called on Western nations to impose new sanctions. “All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,” he wrote. “Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war. Eternal memory to all victims of Russia!”

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andriy Sybiha, said Kyiv insists on “strong international reactions to Russia’s brutal strike on Kyiv and other cities.” He added that the European Union’s mission in Ukraine had also been damaged in the attack. “Whatever Putin said in Alaska, his real actions reject diplomacy, dialogue, and peace efforts,” Sybiha said.

Russian strikes also targeted other areas of Ukraine, cutting power to 60,000 people in the Vinnytsia region, damaging rail infrastructure in Kozyatyn and forcing Kyiv–Lviv trains to reroute, and hitting an enterprise in Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 598 drones and 31 missiles overnight; air defenses intercepted most of them, but missiles and drones struck 13 sites, with debris falling in 26 other locations.