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On camera: Russia's biggest attack sets Ukraine's government building ablaze in Kyiv
A video of Ukraine's cabinet of ministers in flames and smoke billowing over the capital went viral on social media.
Russia reportedly fired over 800 drones, 13 missiles towards Ukraine in its biggest-ever aerial barrage at the country in its ongoing war, early on Sunday. At least two people were killed and smoke was seen emanating from the main building of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv.
According to the city's emergency services, drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in the city.
The video, posted on X, showed the smoke rising from the building and engulfing the sky over Kyiv. HT.com cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The strike on Ukraine's cabinet of ministers, a sprawling government complex at the heart of Kyiv, was the first such strike of the war.
Russia has shown no sign of halting its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine. The latest barrage of attacks used at least 805 drones and 13 missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, which claimed to have shot down 747 drones and four missiles.
The barrage came after several European countries, led by France and Britain, pledged Thursday to deploy "reassurance" forces to Ukraine to patrol a peace deal between the warring sides -- a demand Moscow has deemed unacceptable.
Russia has been pushing hardline demands, like Ukraine giving up the Donetsk region, for ending the war despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal.
Emergency services rush to put out fire
News agency AFP reported helicopters dropping what appeared to be buckets of water over the roof of the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers building, as emergency services rushed to the scene. Police cordoned off the area surrounding the building.
"The roof and upper floors were damaged due to an enemy attack. Rescuers are extinguishing the fire," Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Telegram.
A strike on a nine-story residential building in the west of Kyiv killed at least two people, a mother and her two-month-old son, prosecutors said. According to police, more than a dozen others were wounded.
"We will restore the buildings. But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country," PM Svyrydenko said.
Kyiv says security guarantees, backed by Western troops, are crucial to any peace deal to ensure Russia does not invade again in the future. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has said any Western forces in Ukraine are unacceptable and would be "legitimate" targets.
Efforts in recent weeks by US President Donald Trump to end the war have so far yielded little progress. Russian forces occupy around 20% of Ukrainian territory in total.
Tens of thousands have been killed in three and a half years of fighting, which has forced millions from their homes and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine in Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.
