Russian strikes wound at least 20 in Ukraine's capital as child is killed in separate attack

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drone and missile strikes wounded at least 20 people in Kyiv, damaged residential buildings and caused blackouts across swaths of Ukraine early Friday, authorities said. A child also was killed in separate attacks in the southeast of the country.

In the heart of the Ukrainian capital, rescue crews pulled more than 20 people out of a 17-story apartment building as flames engulfed the sixth and seventh floors. Five people were hospitalized, while others received first aid at the scene, authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of lashing out against Ukrainian cities in response to frontline failures in the east. “They can show nothing on the battlefield. All they can do is attack our power sector ... and attack our cities,” Zelenskyy told reporters late Friday.

Residents in a central Kyiv district that suffered one of the attacks described scene of chaos during the overnight strike.

“Everyone was sleeping and suddenly there was such a sharp sound; it was clear that something was flying. I managed to pull the blanket over my head, and then the strike hit — it blew out the windows, and the glass flew almost all the way to the door," 61-year-old resident Tetiana Lemishevska told The Associated Press.

"The fire was on the sixth or seventh floor at first, and the flames went up quickly and spread to other floors. So all the people who could left the building without knowing how it would end,” she said.

Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko also described the attack as “one of the largest concentrated strikes" against Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Ukraine’s national energy operator, Ukrenergo, reported power outages in Kyiv and the wider region, as well as in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Cherkasy regions.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that Friday’s attack knocked out power on both sides of the city, divided by the Dnipro River, while Ukraine’s biggest electricity operator, DTEK, said that repair work was already underway on multiple damaged thermal plants.

Russia's Defense Ministry on Friday said the strikes had targeted energy facilities supplying Ukraine's military. It did not give details of those facilities, but said Russian forces used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and strike drones against them.

The energy sector has been a key battleground since Russia launched its all-out invasion of neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Each year, Russia has tried to cripple the Ukrainian power grid before the bitter winter season, apparently hoping to erode public morale. Ukraine’s winter temperatures run from late October through March, with January and February the coldest months.

Ukraine’s air force said Friday that the latest Russian barrage included 465 strike and decoy drones, as well as 32 missiles of various types. Air defenses intercepted or jammed 405 drones and 15 missiles, it said.

In the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, residential areas and energy sites were pounded with attack drones, missiles and guided bombs, killing a 7-year-old boy and wounding his parents and others, military administration officials said. A hydroelectric plant in the area was taken offline as a precaution, they said.

The intensified attacks in recent weeks, prompted Zelenskyy Friday to appeal for more international support to boost his country's air defenses.

A senior Ukrainian delegation is due to visit the United States next week. Zelenskyy said he was counting on U.S. President Donald Trump to apply pressure on Moscow, adding that he was in discussions with U.S. officials about the possible provision of various long-range precision strike weapons, including Tomahawk cruise missiles and more ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles.

Ukraine, he said, would need substantial amount. “When you have 40, 50 or 60 ACATMS, between us, it’s nothing,” he said. “If you want to have something and see real effect, then you have to provide, to deliver, the number which can give you this effect.”

Zelenskyy said was encouraged by the U.S.-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending the war in Gaza and urged Trump to exert similar pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine.

“I hope he will use all the instruments: Tomahawks, sanctions, the diplomatic way, the financial way, tariffs, everything to stop Putin,” he said.

Associated Press journalist Vasilisa Stepanenko contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks during his press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks during his press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A rescuer helps an injured man after a Russian strike on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)

Rescuers carry an injured woman into an ambulance after a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)

Paramedics evacuate an injured woman after a Russian strike on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Brovary, near Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work the scene following a Russian attack in Brovary, near Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Rescuers carry an injured woman into an ambulance after a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A residential building is damaged by a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

PRAGUE (AP) — A new Czech coalition government led by populist billionaire Andrej Babiš took office on Monday with an agenda to steer the country away from supporting Ukraine and reject some key European Union policies.

President Petr Pavel swore in the Cabinet at the Prague Castle, ending a pro-Western coalition under former Prime Minister Petr Fiala that made the country a staunch supporter of Ukraine and a haven for hundreds of thousands Ukrainian refugees.

Babiš, previously prime minister in two governments from 2017-2021, and his ANO, or YES, movement, won big in the country's October election and agreed to form a majority coalition government with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves.

The parties, which share admiration for U.S. President Donald Trump, created a 16-member Cabinet. ANO holds eight posts and the prime minister’s office. The Motorists have four and the Freedom party three.

The political comeback by Babiš and his new alliance with two small government newcomers are expected to significantly redefine the nation's foreign and domestic policies.

Babiš is set to join the ranks of Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia, whose countries have refused to provide military aid to Ukraine and which oppose EU sanctions on Russia.

Babiš has rejected any financial aid by his country for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans to the country fighting the Russian invasion.

He already joined forces with his friend Orbán last year to create a new alliance in the European Parliament, the “Patriots for Europe,” to represent hard-right groups. Previously, he was a member of the liberal Renew group.

Babiš suggested his government would abandon a Czech initiative that has managed to acquire some 1.8 million much-needed artillery shells for Ukraine only this year on markets outside the EU.

The Freedom party sees no future for the Czechs in the EU and NATO and wants to expel most of 380,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country. The group does not consider Russia a threat and its members repeat its propaganda.

The Motorists, who are close to former euro-skeptic President Václav Klaus, rejected the EU Green Deal and proposed revivals of coal and relations with Slovakia, Hungary and Poland in an informal group known as V4 whose activities has been stalled over different views of the Russian war against Ukraine.

The Motorists, whose head Petr Macinka became the foreign minister, blamed the former government of damaging relations with Slovakia and Hungary.

The new government promised to present a plan to reduce electricity prices, revoke a pension reform and change the financing of the public radio and television that critics say would would bring the broadcasters under government control.

Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis leaves the Prague Castle after his government was appointed in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Czech Republic's President Petr Pavel, center, and Prime Minister Andrej Babis, center left, pose for a family photo with newly appointed government members at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Czech Republic's President Petr Pavel, right, toasts with Prime Minister Andrej Babis after appointing his government members at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Czech Republic's Prime Minister Andrej Babis watches as his government members are appointed at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Leader of ANO political movement Andrej Babis addresses the media after being sworn in as the country's new prime minister at the Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)