Airstrike on Kyiv kills 12 in heaviest assault this year

A massive Russian missile and drone barrage struck Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight into Thursday, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than 30 in one of the heaviest aerial assaults on the Ukrainian capital in recent months. The sustained attack, which began around midnight local time on August 20, 2026, and lasted for hours, overwhelmed air defenses and inflicted significant damage on residential buildings, a children’s hospital, a school, and other infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the assault as “massive,” stating that Russian forces had prepared for a long time, combining different types of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles alongside drones to inflict maximum damage. The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched 168 drones and dozens of missiles, with Kyiv as the primary target. While air defenses managed to intercept 41 cruise missiles and 145 drones, officials confirmed that none of the ballistic missiles used in the attack were intercepted, highlighting a critical vulnerability. Explosions rang out across multiple districts, including Solomianskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, and Darnytskyi.