At least eight people were killed — including a six-year-old boy — and 82 injured — in Kyiv following an overnight Russian attack with missiles and drones, according to the head of the city’s military administration.
“Kyiv has suffered the consequences of a combined Russian attack at more than 27 locations,” Tymur Tkachenko said on July 31. “The Solomyanskiy district was heavily affected, along with Svyatoshynskiy, Shevchenkivskiy, and Holosiyivskiy.”
Ten children, including a five-month-old girl, are reported to be be among the casualties, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that people were trapped under the rubble.
“Kyiv. Missile strike. Direct hit on a residential building. People are under the rubble. All emergency services are on site. Russian terrorists,” he said on Telegram.
“I saw it with my own eyes — people being pulled from under the rubble at the rescue site. It’s heartbreaking to see parents searching for their children and relatives looking for loved ones,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after visiting the scene of the attack in Kyiv.
“Today, the world once again saw Russia’s response to our desire for peace, shared with America and Europe. New, showcase killings,” Zelenskyy wrote in his post on X.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called it “a horrible morning in Kyiv,” saying Russian strikes destroyed residential buildings, damaged schools and hospitals, and left civilians dead, wounded, and trapped under rubble. He urged that it is “time to make [Russian President Vladimir Putin] feel the consequences” and to apply maximum pressure on Moscow.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed on July 31 to have captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, calling it “liberated.”
However, Ukraine denied the claim, with a military spokesperson accusing the Russian Defense Ministry of routinely spreading false information.
“I always advise not to consider the Russian Ministry of Defense as a source of information. They simply lie systematically, and the very approach of having us comment on their latest lies every time is wrong,” Viktor Trehubov, a spokesperson for Khortytsia, a Ukrainian unit which is fighting in the area, said to the AFP news agency on July 31.
The Russian strike came amid a statement by US President Donald Trump, who said he was “very disappointed” with Putin for refusing to end the war and that he would shorten his previously announced 50-day deadline for the Russian leader to reach a cease-fire deal.
Trump said the new deadline for Russia begins on July 29 and will now be just 10 days or he will impose tariffs and other measures on Moscow.
A day earlier, Trump said he was shortening the deadline for Russia to agree to a cease-fire in Ukraine from 50 days to “10-12 days.”
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, gave a terse response to the 10-12 day deadline on July 29, saying the Kremlin had “taken note” of Trump’s comments without elaborating.
Trump has shown signs of growing frustration with Putin’s refusal to agree to a cease-fire while at the same time Russia is pummeling Ukraine on an almost nightly basis with drone and missile strikes.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s outgunned and outmanned army is also facing pressure on the ground as Russian forces are making new efforts to drive back Ukrainian defenders along a 1,000-kilometer front line in the east of the embattled country.
