Russia hits seat of Ukraine government in war’s biggest air attack

Smoke rises over the government headquarters in Kyiv, following Russian drone and missile strikes on September 7, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo / Genya Savilov, AFP

Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early on Sunday, killing at least two people and setting the seat of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv ablaze, authorities said.

An AFP reporter saw the roof of Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in flames and smoke billowing over the capital.

Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in Kyiv, according to emergency services.

Russia has shown no sign of halting its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, pushing hard-line demands for ending the war despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal.

The barrage came after several European countries, led by France and Britain, pledged on Thursday to deploy “reassurance” forces to Ukraine to patrol a peace deal between the warring sides - a demand Moscow has deemed unacceptable.

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.

An AFP reporter saw helicopters dropping what appeared to be buckets of water over the roof, 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.

“We will restore the buildings. But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country.”

Russia fired at least 805 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday, the largest of the war, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Strike kills infant

AFP reporters heard explosions over the capital early Sunday.

A strike on a nine-storey residential building in the west of Kyiv killed at least two people, a mother and her 2-month-old son, prosecutors said.

More than a dozen others were wounded, according to police.

Ukraine’s rescue service posted photos showing the building in flames, while smoke billowed from its facade.

The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to patrol any agreement to end the war, some of whom pledged troops on the ground.

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.

– Agence France-Presse