Russia strikes kill six in Kyiv, Moscow says captured key town

KYIV, Ukraine: Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least six people, officials said Thursday, as Moscow claimed the capture of a town that had been a key stronghold for the Ukrainian army in the east of the country.

Drones and missile strikes hit at least 27 locations in Kyiv in the early hours, city officials said.

“As of now, the services have confirmed six deaths,” including a six-year-old boy, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, said in a post on Telegram.

“We have 52 wounded people, almost 30 are in hospitals. Including nine children,” he wrote.

“It’s a horrible morning in Kyiv. The brutal Russian strikes destroyed entire residential buildings and damaged schools and hospitals. Civilians are injured and killed. There are still people under the rubble,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga wrote on X.

Russia’s latest deadly attack on Ukraine came just days after US President Donald Trump issued a 10-day ultimatum for Moscow to halt its invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth year, or face sanctions.

Key capture in east

Russia said it had captured the town of Chasiv Yar, which had been a strategically important military hub for Ukrainian forces in the east.

The town “was liberated by Russian forces”, Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement.

If confirmed, the capture of the town that has been the site of battles for months will mark the latest locality to fall to Russian forces, who have been making incremental but steady territorial gains for months.

The fall of the hilltop town now paves the way for Russian forces to advance on remaining civilian strongholds in the eastern Donetsk region, like the garrison city of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, important logistical bases for the Ukrainian military and home to many civilians, who have up to now not fled the fighting.

The Kremlin has made the capture of the Donetsk region its military priority and already in late 2022 claimed that the industrial territory was part of Russia.

Kyiv has been trying to repel Russia’s summer offensive, which has made fresh advances into areas largely spared since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

Thursday’s attack came on the heels of a Russian strike on a military training camp, which killed at least three Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday.

Following Thursday’s strikes, Ukraine’s foreign minister called for the international community to apply utmost pressure on Moscow to end the war it launched in February, 2022.