The Cabinet of Ministers building near Independence Square has caught fire, Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has said

©  Yulia Sviridenko / Telegram

The Cabinet of Ministers building of the Ukrainian government in Kiev has been struck by a Russian drone, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on Sunday. The Russian Defense Ministry has yet to comment.

Ukrainian officials reported strikes in different parts of the capital, adding that the cities of Odessa, Krivoy Rog, Dnepr, and Kremenchug also came under attack. Klitschko wrote on Telegram that “a government building caught fire following the apparent shootdown of a drone.”

Ukrainian news agency UNIAN shared a video of smoke rising from a building near Independence Square.

 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko later confirmed damage to the government building, saying it was the first incident of its kind, with the roof and upper floors hit. “Rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” she said, sharing a photo of a helicopter dousing the building and images of the badly damaged interior.

 

MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak suggested that the office of the prime minister was not far from the strike, adding that there were also a couple of technical facilities there.

According to the city authorities, at least two people were killed and 15 were injured in the attack on Kiev.

Russia has conducted long-range drone and missile strikes on Ukraine for months, targeting military-related facilities and the defense industrial base. It has said the attacks are retaliation for Kiev’s strikes deep into Russia that often damage residential areas and critical infrastructure. Moscow maintains that it never targets civilians.