At least three individuals were injured and several fires were ignited in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv during a missile strike early Sunday, according to the city’s mayor. This incident occurred just days after an earlier Russian attack resulted in the deaths of 18 individuals in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor, confirmed that emergency medical teams had been dispatched to two areas in Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force reported that missiles had struck the northern Chernihiv region.
‘Explosions in the capital. Air defence is in operation,’ Klitschko said on Telegram.
‘The missile attack on Kyiv continues. Stay in shelters!’
He added that three people were injured so far, while fires broke out in non-residential buildings and eight cars were damaged.
These assaults occurred against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a partial truce between Russia and Ukraine. The conflict has been ongoing for over three years since Moscow’s large-scale invasion, and Trump is also pursuing improved relations with the Kremlin.
Poland’s military said it and allied forces had taken to the skies in response to Russian strikes across the border in western Ukraine, with ground-based air defence systems on high alert.
‘Due to the intensive activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, performing strikes on objects located, among others, in the west of Ukraine, the operation of Polish and allied aviation in our airspace has begun,’ its operational command said on X.
Smoke rises at the site of a rocket hit in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 6 2025, amid the ongoing Russian invasion
The site of a rocket strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 6 2025
Vendors put their wares on display at a flea market as smoke rises from a nearby site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 6, 2025
‘The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.’
Russia’s defence ministry said Sunday its air defence units had intercepted and destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones.
On Saturday, Zelensky slammed the US embassy for what he called a ‘weak’ statement that did not blame Russia for the deadly missile strike on his home city Kryvyi Rig.
The Russian missile struck a residential area near a children’s playground in the central Ukrainian city.
In an emotional statement on social media, Zelensky named each of the nine children killed in the attack, accusing the US embassy of avoiding referring to Russia as the aggressor.
Zelensky said the children killed in the strike ranged in age from three to 17.
‘Unfortunately, the reaction of the American embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people – and such a weak reaction,’ Zelensky wrote.
‘They are even afraid to say the word ‘Russian’ when talking about the missile that killed the children.’
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 6, 2025
A missile attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Sunday injured at least three people and caused several blazes
The attacks come as US President Donald Trump pushes for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine has been battling Putin’s invasion for over three years
The Ukrainian president took aim at the US Ambassador Bridget Brink after she posted a message on X on Friday that said: ‘Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant.’
Zelensky said in his evening address: ‘It is wrong and dangerous to keep silent about the fact that it is Russia that is killing children with ballistic missiles.
‘It only incites the scum in Moscow to continue the war and further ignore diplomacy.’
Zelensky was born in the industrial city of Kryvyi Rig, which had a pre-war population of around 600,000 people.
Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rig’s military administration, said three days of mourning had been declared on April 7, 8 and 9.
‘This is nothing less than a mass murder of civilians,’ he said.
Pictures circulated by rescue services showed several bodies, one stretched out near a playground swing.
Russia’s defence ministry said it ‘delivered a precision strike’ in the city ‘where commanders of formations and Western instructors were meeting’.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian army retorted that Moscow was ‘trying to cover up its cynical crime’ and ‘spreading false information’. It accused Russia of ‘war crimes’.
Trump is pushing the two sides to agree to a ceasefire but his administration has failed to broker an accord acceptable to both.
Trump is pushing the two sides to agree to a ceasefire but his administration has failed to broker an accord acceptable to both
A vehicle lies damaged near a business center in the city Obolonskyi district after a Russian ballistic missile strike on April 6, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine
This handout photograph taken and released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine on April 6, 2025, shows a firefighter working on a fire following the Russian missile attack in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Zelensky said the missile attack showed Russia had no interest in stopping its full-scale invasion.
The president hailed ‘tangible progress’ after meeting British and French military chiefs in Kyiv on Friday to discuss a plan by London and Paris to send a ‘reassurance’ force to Ukraine if and when a deal on ending the conflict is reached.
Zelensky wrote on social media that the meeting with British Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin and French counterpart Thierry Burkhard agreed ‘the first details on how the security contingent of partners can be deployed’.
It is one of the latest efforts by European leaders to agree on a coordinated policy after Trump sidelined them and opened direct talks with the Kremlin.
