Russian missile and drone attack across Ukraine wounds at least 3 and causes damage

KYIV, Ukraine: Ukraine was under an ongoing Russian ballistic missile and drone attack early Friday that wounded at least three people, officials said. Multiple explosions were heard in the capital, Kyiv, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defense systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration. Three people were wounded, local officials said. They urged residents to seek shelter. "Our air defense crews are doing everything possible. But we must protect one another - stay safe," Tkachenko wrote on Telegram. Authorities reported damage in several districts, and rescue workers were responding at multiple locations. In Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story residential building.

Emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment, and rescue operations were ongoing. Another fire broke out in a metal warehouse. Tkachenko said the metro tracks between two stations in Kyiv were damaged in the attack, but no fire or injuries occurred. In northern Chernihiv region, a Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building, shattering windows and doors, according to regional military administration chief Dmytro Bryzhynskyi.

He added that explosions from ballistic missiles were also recorded on the outskirts of the city. The nighttime attack came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia "fight for a while" before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, in comments that were a remarkable detour from Trump's often-stated appeals to stop the three-year war. Trump spoke as he met with Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, who appealed to him as the "key person in the world" who could halt the bloodshed by pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin.