Russia launched a large-scale overnight barrage of ballistic and cruise missiles, backed by Shahed-type drones, against Ukraine’s capital early Thursday, hitting targets in at least seven districts and igniting fires visible across the city, Ukrainian officials said. Kyiv’s military administration reported at least eight deaths, including a child, and about 30 injuries. Rescue teams were dispatched to more than 20 locations after a five-storey residential block in the Darnytsky district partially collapsed, while a kindergarten, a shopping mall and multiple apartment buildings sustained heavy damage. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions began shortly after 3 a.m. local time, with debris falling on both banks of the Dnipro River. Officials described the assault as a coordinated strike from multiple directions designed to overwhelm air defences; several missiles were intercepted, but fragments caused additional destruction on the ground. The attack is the first major combined missile-and-drone strike on Kyiv in weeks and comes amid faltering diplomatic efforts to end the three-year war. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged partners to tighten sanctions and expedite air-defence deliveries, saying Moscow has chosen “ballistics, not negotiations.”