Deadly overnight strikes hit Kyiv and region

At least 12 people were killed and 17 injured, including two children, in overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the wider region, Ukrainian officials said. In Kyiv, six of the eight casualties were railway workers of the state Ukrzaliznytsia company after a depot was hit. Fires were reported in three city districts. Four people were killed in the town of Boryspil, where a residential building was hit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday morning that nearly 350 rescue workers had been working through the night in Kyiv and the surrounding region after the latest strikes. In a post on social media, he said Russia had fired a "significant number of jet drones and ballistic missiles." He added that eight other Ukrainian regions were attacked and that an Indian national was among the casualties.

Russia's stated targeting and Belgorod strike

Russia's military said its "massive strike using high-precision weapons" targeted Ukraine's "military-industrial and fuel-energy" facilities. The Russian military also said that one person was killed in Ukrainian strikes on Russia's western Belgorod region, according to acting Governor Aleksandr Shuvaev.

Context: recent attacks and diplomatic pressure

The latest attacks come after 38 people were killed in Russian strikes on a weapons depot in the Kyiv region on Friday, causing shells, mines and drones to detonate. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Monday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Putin to end the war, saying every day of conflict set humanity back. Modi said at a security summit in Kyrgyzstan: "Every day spent in war pushes humanity back, and every step taken towards peace fills humanity with new hope and enthusiasm." Modi, whose country's economy depends heavily on discounted oil from Moscow, has made several similar pleas to Putin since the invasion began.