Russian Ballistic Missiles Hit Kyiv in Three Waves, Injuring Five and Wrecking a Kindergarten Building

Updated 10:12 UTC, Nov 7

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russia launched 36 ballistic missiles and 172 drones in the overnight attack, with all of the missiles aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region and the energy sector as the main target, and that strikes hit substations connecting the Rivne and Khmelnytskyi nuclear power plants with Kyiv and central Ukraine. Ukraine's Air Force said air defences intercepted four missiles and 149 drones, with impacts recorded at 24 locations and debris falling at 10 more sites, UATV reported via 112.ua. The Sun reported that at least nine people were injured in the capital, among them the 14-year-old girl in the first city count, up from the five injured reported earlier. Zelensky appealed for faster American support, saying: "We expect increased bilateral support from America. We expect the U.S. Congress to pay more attention to Ukraine, because Russia keeps increasing the number of its strikes." He added: "It is important that support for Ukraine remains a priority in American policy."

Russian ballistic missiles struck Kyiv three times overnight, injuring five people, including a 14-year-old, and destroying a two-storey building on the grounds of a kindergarten in the Solomianskyi district, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, Nov. 7. Two of the injured were taken to hospital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported. City officials reported no deaths in the capital from the attack.

Three waves overnight

Ukraine's Air Force reported that at least six ballistic missiles were fired at Kyiv within a few minutes shortly before 11 p.m. local time on Friday, Nov. 6. The all-clear sounded about 30 minutes later, but a new alert came shortly before midnight. A second wave struck shortly after 1 a.m., with at least six loud explosions heard across the city, and further blasts followed at 3:04 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., Kyiv Independent journalists reported. Klitschko wrote on Telegram as the attack began: "Explosions in the Kyiv suburbs. The enemy is hitting infrastructure with ballistic missiles."

Damage across Solomianskyi

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine, known as DSNS, said the damage was concentrated in the Solomianskyi district in western Kyiv. Part of the ground-floor facade of a five-storey residential building was destroyed, with no fire and no casualties at that address. The blast wave shattered windows in five-storey apartment buildings at three other addresses, and one person was injured there. A two-storey building on the grounds of a kindergarten was damaged, and a parked lorry and a non-residential building caught fire before crews brought the blaze under control. Klitschko first reported three people injured in total, then said the number had risen to five, including a 14-year-old.

The Associated Press reported damage to homes and commercial properties, traffic closed on a Kyiv bridge over the Dnipro River, and new power and water outages. Klitschko said energy facilities were hit in two regions. "As a result of the enemy's night attack, energy facilities in the Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions were damaged," he said. "The situation with the capital's energy supply is extremely difficult, affecting the city's heating and water supply systems."

One more injured outside the capital

Outside Kyiv, a Russian jet-powered drone struck a home in the Brovary district and set it on fire, Kyiv Oblast Governor Tymur Tkachenko reported. Rescuers pulled a man from the rubble of the damaged house, and he was taken to hospital with burns and multiple shrapnel wounds.

A warning hours earlier

The barrage came hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly video address on Friday, said Ukrainian intelligence showed Russia preparing a new large attack on energy targets, bridges and other infrastructure. Kyiv endured the largest strike on its energy system this year on Nov. 3, which caused widespread blackouts and water supply cutoffs. City officials and the central government have traded blame since then over the capital's energy defences.

Talks set for Tuesday in Abu Dhabi

The attack landed three days before negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the United States are due to meet in Abu Dhabi for talks aimed at ending the war. The Associated Press reported that the round would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, following the most recent round in Geneva in February. Territorial and security questions remain unresolved.