Zelensky condemns ‘ruthless attack’ after Russia hits main government building in Kyiv

Ukraine’s main government building in Kyiv has been hit for the first time in the war during Russian attacks, the Ukrainian Prime minister has said.

Yulia Svyrydenko said the building’s roof and upper floors were damaged and a fire ignited “due to an enemy attack”.

At least four people were killed in strikes across the country, including a baby and a young woman who died after a nine-storey residential building was hit in Kyiv’s Svyatoshynsky district, officials said.

Ukraine’s Air Force reported that a record number of drones and missiles were launched by Russia in the latest nightly attack – more than 800 in total.

According to the Air Force, nine missiles and 56 drones hit 37 locations, and the downed wreckage fell at eight locations.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the barrage caused damage in the cities of Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Odesa, as well as in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

“Such killings now, at a time when real diplomacy could have started a long time ago, are a deliberate crime and an attempt to prolong the war,” Zelensky said on social media, urging political will from the world to stop the attacks.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had carried out strikes on Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and transport infrastructure, inflicting damage on weapons and military equipment warehouses.