UK summons Russian envoy after missile strikes in Kyiv kill at least 21
Kyiv officials said the overnight assault also injured at least 63 people.
LONDON: Britain summoned Russia’s ambassador on Thursday (Aug 28) after a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes pounded Ukraine overnight, killing at least 21 people and damaging buildings including the British Council office and the European Union Delegation in Kyiv.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's strikes last night killed civilians, destroyed homes and damaged buildings, including the British Council and EU Delegation in Kyiv,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on X. “We have summoned the Russian ambassador. The killing and destruction must stop.”
DEADLY STRIKES
Kyiv officials said the overnight assault, one of the biggest in recent months, also injured at least 63 people. The strikes hit residential areas as well as diplomatic and commercial sites, damaging the British Council, the EU Delegation, a Turkish enterprise and the Azerbaijan embassy.
“This was Moscow’s answer to diplomatic efforts to end the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He called for new sanctions on Russia, saying: “Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war.”
Ukraine’s military said Russian forces launched 31 missiles and nearly 600 drones nationwide. It claimed to have downed 26 missiles and 563 drones, though energy facilities were struck, triggering power cuts.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it targeted military industrial facilities and air bases. Moscow has regularly denied striking civilians.
WHITE HOUSE REACTS
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump “was not happy about this news, but he was also not surprised,” adding he would make a further statement later on Thursday.
“These are two countries that have been at war for a very long time,” she said. “The president wants it to end but perhaps both sides are not ready to end it themselves.”
The strikes came less than two weeks after Trump hosted Putin in Alaska, a meeting the US leader hoped would advance peace efforts.
GLOBAL CONDEMNATION
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the assault “another grim reminder of what is at stake”, saying it showed the Kremlin “will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians and even targeting the European Union”.
She said two missiles landed within 20 seconds of each other near the EU office in Kyiv. EU countries are preparing a 19th package of sanctions and continuing work on how to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the strike that damaged the British Council building. “Putin is killing children and civilians and sabotaging hopes of peace,” he wrote on X.
Ukraine’s allies, meanwhile, warned that Russia’s intensifying air campaign was part of a strategy to pressure Kyiv into giving up territory while talks remain stalled.
