Kyiv declares day of mourning after Russian strike kills 24

Search and rescue operations in Kyiv have concluded following a Russian aerial attack on Thursday, with Ukrainian authorities confirming that 24 people were killed and 48 others injured.

Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, said the operation lasted for more than 28 hours.

According to Klymenko, the victims include three children - girls aged 12, 15 and 17.

Nearly 400 people received psychological assistance from specialists from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service and National Police, who provided counselling and support to survivors and relatives at the scene of the attack.

Kyiv authorities declared 15 May a day of mourning in memory of those killed in what officials described as one of the largest Russian aerial assaults on the Ukrainian capital since the start of the full-scale war.

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, condemned the attack, saying “this kind of Russia cannot be normalised. Russia deliberately destroys lives and hopes to remain unpunished. Pressure is necessary.”

The strike took place during the night of 14 May. One missile hit a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv, completely destroying one section of the apartment block.

Preliminary findings indicate that Russian forces used an Kh-101 cruise missile in the attack on the residential building.

President Zelenskyy said he had instructed Ukraine’s defence forces and intelligence services to prepare response measures following the strike.

He added that Russia continues to manufacture missiles for attacks on Ukraine using foreign-made components obtained by circumventing international restrictions.