16 killed in Kyiv after night attack
On the night of August 20, Russian troops launched a massive missile and drone strike on Kyiv and the region – for almost nine hours, the city was attacked by ballistic missiles, Zircons and attack drones. As of mid-day, 16 people were known to have died – 15 in Kyiv and one in the Kyiv region, dozens more people were injured
Rescuers recorded hits, fires and destruction in at least twelve locations in the Svyatoshynskyi, Solomyanskyi, Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts. The most victims were in the Solomyanskyi district, where the upper floors of a high-rise building collapsed, a fire broke out, and a children’s hospital was damaged nearby. In this area, rescuers were clearing rubble throughout the morning, freeing several people from the rubble. In the Holosiivskyi district, a business center caught fire after the strike — one person died there, two more were injured. In the Darnytskyi district, non-residential and warehouse premises were damaged, and the fire covered a significant area.
Data on the dead and injured were updated almost every hour. At night, two or three dead were reported, at 7 am the State Emergency Service named six, and by 8 am it was eight. At noon, the number increased to 13, and later to 15 in the capital. According to consolidated data as of 12:40, a total of 16 people died in Kyiv and the region. Such dynamics are typical for the first hours after a massive strike — rescue operations are still ongoing, and the final figure may change during the evening.
Due to the air raid alert, some ground transport changed routes at night and in the morning, and the Kyiv metro temporarily adjusted train traffic. In Solomyanskyi district, a school building and a children’s hospital were damaged. The prosecutor’s office has already launched a pre-trial investigation into the facts of war crimes (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) – investigators of the Main Directorate of the SBU in Kyiv and the region are recording the consequences at the sites of the hits, documenting the destruction and collecting evidence for future cases.
Despite the scale of the strike, energy workers quickly restored electricity: DTEK reported that it had already restored electricity to 90 thousand families in the capital. Residents of areas where rescue operations are ongoing should avoid blockages and follow official messages regarding traffic and the work of public utilities.
Due to the duration of the alert – almost nine hours – thousands of Kyiv residents spent the night in metro stations and other shelters. For strikes on Kyiv and the region, the Russians used dozens of missiles and jet drones simultaneously, which complicated the work of air defense over densely built-up areas of the capital.