Russian drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and its northeast killed eight people on Thursday in attacks that included a maternity hospital and a farm, officials said. Moscow has stepped up its air war in recent months, deploying more of its faster and harder-to-stop drones while Ukraine is short of interceptors to down ballistic missiles. Two people died in the latest assault on Kyiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly. "As people were sleeping, flashes from explosions lit up the sky," Zelenskiy said on Telegram. "Once again, the main targets of their strike were Kyiv and civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, a maternity hospital, energy infrastructure, and logistics." Police said nine homes, a post office, warehouses and dozens of cars were also damaged in Kyiv. A separate Russian attack on a vegetable storage facility at a farm in a village of the northeastern Kharkiv region killed six people and injured a further 12, prosecutors said. The overnight barrage around Ukraine included an unspecified number of hypersonic and ballistic missiles, 282 drones and other weapons, Ukraine's air force said. In Kyiv, eight people were injured as well as the two fatalities, one of whom was in the parking lot of the maternity hospital, Reuters quoted city mayor Vitali Klitschko as saying. Part of the hospital's facade, windows and doors were damaged, officials said, adding that no patients or medics were injured. A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service (SES) shows Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of an overnight Russian attack on a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, 24 September 2026, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT Authorities in the northwestern region of Rivne said infrastructure was damaged in overnight strikes that continued into Thursday morning, without providing further details. Volyn region bordering Poland also came under attack. Insufficient pressure on Moscow was allowing it to launch repeated strikes, said Zelenskiy. "Right now, the United States has the opportunity to respond strongly," he said. "We need ballistic interceptors to protect lives." Russia's defense ministry said its forces hit Ukrainian defense facilities, logistics and telecoms centers, as well as vessels used by the military. In the Black Sea port of Odesa, military administration head Serhiy Lysak said overnight Russian strikes damaged a medical facility and shattered windows in nearby houses and a school. Moldova's President Maia Sandu said four Russian drones crossed into its airspace and at least one exploded, while Romania said a drone also crashed in its territory. NATO alliance member Poland said it deployed aviation twice on Thursday due to Russian attacks on Ukraine.
