Zelensky Welcomes UK Defence Secretary to Kyiv After Deadly Russian Strikes

At least 17 people were killed and 42 wounded overnight in Kyiv, Ukraine, as Russia pounded the capital region with ballistic missiles and drones in one of the deadliest attacks this year, officials said. President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for more missile interceptors, saying on X that ballistic missile interceptors could have saved the lives of those killed today. Fires broke out at multiple locations in Brovary, Bucha and Fastiv districts, with seven sites hit in an assault that began after midnight.

In Russia, seven people, including three children, were killed and 40 injured when a Ukrainian drone struck a beach near the Black Sea town of Gelendzhik on Monday, an attack Moscow called deliberate; Ukraine did not claim responsibility. Zelensky welcomed UK defence secretary Wes Streeting to Kyiv for the first time, thanking him for the visit after the attack. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Russia's strikes, vowing the EU will step up sanctions pressure. A fire erupted at a research building of Russian space agency Roscosmos in Korolyov outside Moscow, according to Tass.