Russia launches ballistic missile attack on Kyiv hours after Zelenskyy warns of major strike

Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, sending multiple explosions rippling through the Ukrainian capital and prompting urgent calls from city officials for residents to take cover.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged people to seek shelter as the blasts were heard across the city, according to the Reuters news agency, which cited a witness. The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed that Russia was targeting the capital with ballistic missiles.

In the hours after the strike, Klitschko reported that several non-residential sites had caught fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attack followed a warning issued just hours earlier by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Russia appeared to be preparing a major overnight assault.

"I received a report from Air Force Commander Anatolii Kryvonozhko," Zelenskyy wrote on the social media platform X on Wednesday. He said Russia had prepared a "massive attack several days ago" and that there was a "high probability" it would be carried out overnight.

Zelenskyy used the warning to press Ukraine's allies for help with air defense, writing, "It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that the protection of lives directly depends on their readiness, or lack thereof, to help us with air defense missiles."

The Ukrainian president made the appeal shortly after returning from the United States, where he met with President Donald Trump. During a recent NATO summit in Turkey, Trump announced that the United States would license Ukraine to manufacture Patriot air defense systems, according to The Associated Press.

"First and foremost, this concerns the United States and those partners that have Patriot missiles and can provide them to support our defense," Zelenskyy wrote.

"Every partner knows what is needed and fully understands the consequences of marking time."