Russian strikes on Kyiv kill two in first deadly attack on the capital

By Nathan Morley

A Russian air attack on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed two people on Monday, marking what appeared to be the first reported fatalities from strikes on the Ukrainian capital this year.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a medical facility in northern Kyiv caught fire after the strike. The blaze was extinguished and a body was later found inside the building, where an inpatient ward had been operating.

Regional officials said Russia also hit towns and villages across the wider Kyiv region, damaging homes and critical infrastructure and killing a civilian in the Fastiv district southwest of the capital.

Elsewhere, Russian authorities said air defenses shot down 129 Ukrainian drones across more than 20 regions overnight, including two aimed at the Moscow region.

Russian reports also said its forces had captured the settlement of Grabovskoye in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

The Russian Defense Ministry said units of its “North” group of forces were advancing to create a security buffer in border areas of the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Russia launched its full‑scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On the diplomatic front, French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other key allies in Paris as talks intensify over potential security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a ceasefire. Leaders and senior officials from more than 30 countries — the so‑called Coalition of the Willing — are attending, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Discussions are expected to focus on a possible multinational force to reassure Ukraine after a peace deal, the nature of long‑term security guarantees in case of renewed Russian aggression, and continued support for Ukraine’s military and economy.

Zelensky recently met with U.S. President Donald Trump and said their discussions on a plan to end the war were “90% agreed,” though the proposals have not yet been presented to Russia.