KYIV -- Russian drone strikes have struck a key Ukrainian government building for the first time since Moscow’s full-scale invasion began, Kyiv said.
The September 7 attack targeted Kyiv’s Cabinet of Ministers building, which houses the prime minister’s office, and was part of Russia’s biggest aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital since February 2022, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia fired over 800 drones and missiles across the country, a new record, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Three people were killed as Russian drones struck and partially destroyed two high-rise residential buildings in Kyiv, officials said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said an infant child, a young woman, and an elderly woman were killed, and more than a dozen people were injured.
The Cabinet of Ministers building, located in the heart of Kyiv, is home to Ukraine's Cabinet and houses the offices of its ministers.
Russia has previously avoided targeting government buildings in central Kyiv, a heavily defended part of the city.
“For the first time, a government building was damaged by an enemy attack, including the roof and upper floors,” said Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
“We will restore the buildings, but lost lives cannot be returned.”
Russian drone and missile attack also hit residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the cities of Zaporizhzhya, Kryviy Rih, and Odesa, as well as the regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.
The attack on September 7 was the second major Russian drone and missile attack to target Kyiv in recent weeks.
"Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Facebook.
Kyiv’s allies also condemned the attack.
"I'm appalled by the latest brutal overnight assault on Kyiv and across Ukraine," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement. "These cowardly strikes show that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin believes he can act with impunity. He is not serious about peace."
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said it attacked an oil pipeline in Russia's Bryansk region, inflicting "comprehensive fire damage" during an overnight attack on September 7. No casualties were reported.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed 69 Ukrainian drones were intercepted across nine regions, briefly disrupting flights in the cities of Moscow, Volgograd, and Nizhny Novgorod.
Russia’s drone barrage has dimmed hopes for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine aimed at ending Moscow’s three-and-a-half-year unprovoked invasion of its neighbor.
Russia’s attack came days after European countries, led by France and Britain, pledged to deploy a "reassurance" force to Ukraine if a cease-fire is reached.
But Putin warned that foreign troops deployed in Ukraine would be treated as "legitimate targets."
Zelenskyy rejected an offer from Putin to travel to Moscow for peace talks and instead challenged him to come to Kyiv.
"He can come to Kyiv," Zelenskyy told ABC News on September 6. "I can't go to Moscow when my country's under missiles, under attack, each day. I can't go to the capital of this terrorist."
The Ukrainian president added that Putin's offer was intended to "postpone the meeting," and that the Russian leader was "playing games with the United States."
Putin had earlier downplayed the value of meeting with the Ukrainian president, but also suggested that he would be willing to meet with him, but only on home soil.
