Deadly Russian strikes rock Kyiv as Zelenskyy appeals to US for urgent help

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones.

LONDON -- At least 14 people were killed and more than 100 people injured in a large-scale overnight Russian missile and drone strike on Ukraine, officials said, with the capital Kyiv the main target of Moscow's latest long-range barrage.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a post to Telegram that the most significant damage was wrought in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv regions. At least five people were killed in Kyiv and nine people -- including a child -- were killed in Dnipro, local Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine's air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones into the country, of which 40 missiles and 602 drones were intercepted or suppressed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack constituted "a completely transparent statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue."

"Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defense so that this war can finally end. And we urgently need help from the United States in supplying missiles for the Patriot systems. We count on the support of our partners and on effective responses to today's attack," the president wrote in a post to social media.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that among the buildings damaged by the "large-scale attack" were four medical facilities.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, said in a post to X that the most serious damage in Kyiv was reported in the Podilskyi district, where a Russian strike collapsed a nine-story residential building. "People may still be trapped under the rubble," Stefanchuk wrote.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post to X that Russia's latest "horrific attack" showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin "is a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror."

"Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this," Sybiha wrote. "What we can change is Russia's ability to continue terror. I urge partners to act, not only condemn."

The foreign minister called on Ukraine's foreign backers to unlock more European funding for NATO's PURL program through which Kyiv can obtain more American weapons and ammunition, including anti-missile defenses like the Patriot system.

Sybiha also urged partners to increase investment in Ukraine's own long-range capabilities, "ramp up pressure on Russia through new sanctions" and advance Ukraine's European Union membership negotiations.

"Peace efforts will only