By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
KYIV — The sirens went off in the dark, and by morning the count was grim: at least eight dead, dozens wounded, apartment blocks and a medical facility torn open across three districts of the capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had been planning the assault for a long time, combining different types of missiles in what Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called "a massive enemy attack." Klitschko said 18 people were hospitalized as emergency crews worked through the wreckage; city military authorities put the toll at five dead and 23 wounded in Kyiv alone, with the broader regional count reaching eight dead and more than two dozen injured, according to figures relayed by Ukrainian officials to the BBC and Al Jazeera.
The strikes hit residential buildings, warehouses and an educational institution, officials said. "The capital is recovering from a massive enemy attack," Klitschko said in a video posted to Telegram, as cleanup and rescue operations continued into Thursday.
The attack lands as Zelenskyy faces mounting pressure at home over the war's direction, even as Kyiv keeps insisting any peace on Moscow's terms would be no peace at all. Separately, the BBC reports that Ukrainian-born men captured while fighting for Russia are now being tried for treason in Kyiv-controlled territory — some insisting, in interviews from a POW camp, that they believed they were defending their homeland. It's a reminder that this war still runs through families as much as front lines.
Exact casualty figures varied slightly between Ukrainian officials and international outlets Thursday morning; this account reflects the most recent figures available at time of filing and may be updated as authorities finalize their toll.
FILED FROM SOMEWHERE WITH BAD COFFEE -
— Compiled from reporting by The Guardian, the BBC and Al Jazeera.
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