Russian drone hits Kyiv apartment block amid deadly wave of strikes across the capital

A Russian drone slammed into a residential block in eastern Kyiv during a night of widespread attacks across the Ukrainian capital, killing six people and injuring dozens more. Emergency crews spent hours clearing debris in the Lisovyi district as residents described the moment the drone struck the building.

One resident, Vita, said the drone tore through the block and exploded inside. “It pierced the building and blew up on the other side,” she said, adding that she saw multiple bodies being pulled from a nearby apartment. The local fire service later confirmed that the drone struck the seventh floor, causing floors four through eight to collapse.

The attack was part of a large-scale overnight barrage. Ukrainian officials say nearly every district of Kyiv came under assault, with residential buildings, a hospital, a school, and several administrative offices damaged by falling debris and fires. Tymur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration, issued a shelter warning shortly after midnight, writing on Telegram that “it’s loud in Kyiv.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine intensified its own strikes on Russian infrastructure, hitting one of Moscow’s most important oil export hubs in Novorossiysk on the Black Sea. Officials said fires broke out at the Sheskharis oil refinery, and that a block of flats and a ship were also hit. Krasnodar governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported that three crew members and another man were injured in the attack. The city’s mayor declared a state of emergency, and Reuters reported that oil exports were temporarily suspended.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had used long-range “Long Neptune” cruise missiles in its overnight operations but did not specify their targets. He condemned the Russian attacks as “vile and calculated,” claiming that roughly 430 drones and 18 missiles had been launched and that dozens of high-rise buildings were hit.

In southern Ukraine, a drone strike on a market in Chornomorsk killed two people. Ukrainian emergency services described extensive damage to public and residential infrastructure in multiple regions.

Back in Kyiv, rescue crews worked through the day using cranes to reach the upper floors of the destroyed apartment building in Lisovyi. Footage from the scene showed workers removing shattered glass and chunks of collapsed walls as smoke drifted from the wreckage. Residents gathered below in shock as emergency teams continued searching for survivors.

The latest escalation underscores the growing intensity of strikes on both sides as winter approaches and civilian areas remain caught in the fighting.