Russian ballistic missiles strike Kyiv, killing two, as Zelensky reshuffles government and EU seals drone deal

Explosions lit up the sky over Kyiv shortly after midnight on Thursday as Russia fired at least eight ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital, killing two people and wounding six others, including a 16-year-old boy. Air raid sirens wailed through the city before 1 a.m. local time, and residents scrambled for shelter as bright flashes and half a dozen detonations echoed across the Sviatoshynskyi and Darnytskyi districts. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the casualties and said a warehouse was hit, while missile debris fell on non-residential buildings, sparking fires that emergency crews were still battling hours later. The attack came just hours after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen concluded a visit to Kyiv, where she announced a new drone production partnership and attended Statehood Day ceremonies.

Two people have been killed in Kyiv as a result of an enemy attack.

Political upheaval in Kyiv

The missile strike coincided with a political reshuffle in Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday endorsed Naftogaz chief Sergii Koretskyi as the country's next prime minister, after parliament accepted the resignation of Yulia Svyrydenko on Tuesday. Zelensky said Koretskyi, who has led the state energy company through repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine's power grid, was the best prepared candidate for the role, particularly with winter approaching. Lawmakers are expected to vote on his confirmation on Thursday. Zelensky also signalled plans to replace Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a move that drew dismay from some politicians and commentators who argued it would weaken Ukraine's war effort at a time when its forces are hitting Russia's oil industry and slowing frontline advances.

If we are entering winter, then we must prepare... After all the consultations, Sergiy Koretsky is probably the best prepared person for the position of prime minister of Ukraine.

EU-Ukraine drone production pact

Von der Leyen's visit produced a 'drone deal' that aims to combine Ukraine's battlefield experience with the European Union's industrial capacity to rapidly scale up unmanned aircraft production. Speaking at the Statehood Day event, she said the agreement would bring together Ukrainian ingenuity and Europe's industrial scale, adding that the EU could offer huge technological and industrial capacity and secure production sites. The pact is the latest effort to bolster Ukraine's defences as it faces near-daily Russian bombardments.

This deal will bring together Ukrainian ingenuity and Europe's industrial scale.

Wider Russian strikes and Ukrainian counterattacks

The Kyiv attack was part of a wider wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine. On Wednesday, regional officials reported that 13 people were killed and about 50 injured in bombardments on Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. In Odesa, governor Oleh Kiper said a drone and missile strike marked the fifth consecutive day of attacks on the Black Sea port region, killing three people when a missile hit a residential building. Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted port infrastructure used for military cargo. In Zaporizhzhia, three people died and 15 were wounded. Meanwhile, Ukraine struck back, hitting a power plant in Sevastopol that supplies nearly half of Russian-occupied Crimea's electricity, and its drones hit 20 Russian vessels in the Black Sea, forcing Moscow to restrict shipping in the Sea of Azov, a key grain export route. Russia also accused Ukrainian forces of killing the chief engineer of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in a drone strike; Ukraine did not immediately comment.

Patriot missile production on the horizon

Kyiv's vulnerability to ballistic missiles has been exacerbated by a shortage of PAC-3 interceptor missiles for its US-supplied Patriot systems. US President Donald Trump announced last week that he would authorise Ukraine to produce the missiles domestically, and Zelensky said on Wednesday that production could begin by the end of this year, a timeline that would significantly strengthen Ukraine's air defences. The city of Kharkiv was also hit by combat drones overnight, its mayor said, underscoring the breadth of the aerial threat.