Russian missiles pound Ukraine, damage EU and British offices

By Anastasiia Malenko

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia pounded Ukraine with deadly missiles and drone strikes early on Thursday in a sweeping attack that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said was Moscow's answer to diplomatic efforts to end its war.

At least 18 people, including four children, were killed in the capital, officials from the city administration said. As the sun rose, rescuers dug through a wrecked block on Kyiv's left bank and pulled at least two bodies from the rubble.

The strikes damaged the European Union's mission and British Council offices in the city, officials said. The European Union and London summoned Russian envoys to protest. There were no reports of casualties at either site.

"Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table," Zelenskiy said on X, calling for new sanctions on Russia. "It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war."

Russia said its attack had hit military industrial facilities and air bases, and that Ukraine had also attacked Russian targets. The Kremlin said it was still interested in pursuing peace talks.

Moscow has regularly denied targeting civilians. Ukrainian officials say scores of civilians have died in Russian strikes on densely populated areas over the recent months, and thousands since the start of the war.

During the attack on Kyiv, explosions rang out as clouds of smoke rose into the night sky. Drones whirred overhead. 

Mayor Vitali Klitschko described it as one of the biggest attacks on the city in recent months. At least 38 people were wounded in the hours-long assault which damaged buildings in all city districts, officials said. 

Across the country, Ukraine's military said Russian attacks struck 13 locations. National grid operator Ukrenergo said energy facilities were hit, causing power cuts.

A push by Kyiv and its allies to end the invasion that Moscow launched in February 2022 has yielded little, despite meetings between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts.   

Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front line and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in a bid to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory.

'ANOTHER GRIM REMINDER'

"This is another grim reminder of what is at stake. It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorize Ukraine, blindly killing civilians and even targeting the European Union," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.

She said two missiles had struck near the office within 20 seconds of each other.

EU countries would soon come up with a 19th package of sanctions against Russia and were advancing work on how to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, she added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the assault, which he said had damaged the British Council building. "Putin is killing children and civilians and sabotaging hopes of peace," he wrote on X.

Ukraine's military said air defences had downed 563 of nearly 600 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched by Russia across the country.

One attack damaged a railway hub in central Ukraine's Vinnytsia region, where officials said a strike on critical infrastructure had left 60,000 residents without power.

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia would step up strikes on the country's energy grid as winter approaches.

Russia's Defence Ministry said Russian air defences destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight in at least seven regions.

Ukraine's drone force said it had struck the Afipsky and Kuybyshevskyi oil refineries as part of that attack.

Russia added that its forces had used an unmanned speedboat to hit and sink a Ukrainian reconnaissance boat on Thursday in the mouth of the Danube River.

Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine's navy, said the attack killed one person and several others were wounded or missing. He did not comment on the strike location.

The Danube ports are critically important for Ukraine, serving as an alternative to the Black Sea ports through which fuel and other critical cargoes are imported into the country.

(Reporting by Taras Garanich Anastasiia Malenko; Additional reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Bart Meijer in Brussels; Writing by Dan Peleschuk and Andrew Heavens; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Alex Richardson)