Russian forces kill 6 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy faces pressure over elections

Ukraine election debate grows as ousted defence minister challenges wartime politics

Russian forces have launched ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the border region, killing at least nine people and wounding 33 others, officials said, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confronted a wave of domestic political turmoil.

Explosions rang out across several districts of Kyiv early Thursday, shaking buildings and setting off car alarms, according to the Kyiv Independent, a Ukrainian news outlet.

The blasts hit the Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts.

In the Solomianskyi district, a nine-storey residential building collapsed and caught fire following the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. He said that a children’s hospital in the same district was also damaged, with windows shattered and cars burning on the grounds.

“People are trapped” at another residential building, he continued, with parts of both Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts also without electricity.

Ukraine’s Emergency Services said at least eight people were killed and 33 others were wounded in the “massive attack” on the capital, with fires breaking out in residential buildings and at warehouses.

It said rescuers are at the scene of the attacks and have freed at least two people from the rubble of collapsed buildings.