Kyiv on alert as ballistic missile threat triggers air raid alarm

Kyiv's air raid alarm sounded Monday evening local time, with Ukrainian media reporting an active ballistic missile threat aimed at the capital. Residents were sent to shelters as the alert stretched into the night. The warning followed a day of deadly strikes elsewhere in the country.

Earlier Monday, Russian forces hit the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine, killing 26 people and injuring five others, according to Ukrainian officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky said five victims remain hospitalized and others are still trapped under rubble, vowing rescue crews would keep digging "for as long as necessary." Another four people were hurt in a separate strike on the port city of Odesa.

Zelensky, in a video address posted to Telegram, accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilian buildings and pressed the international community to respond. The strikes concentrated on the village of Komyshuvakha, where bombs struck a school being used for humanitarian needs and a shelter where people had taken cover, he said. He described the attacks as "extremely terrible" and said they show the Kremlin has no interest in de-escalating.

The Ukrainian leader also warned that Russia is preparing a fresh wave of strikes, as the country grapples with mounting problems in its power and water supply after repeated hits on the energy grid. Meanwhile, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Ukraine may have used a ceasefire in Oleshky to regroup, calling it "normal practice" and adding that no similar truce is currently planned.

The day's bloodshed unfolded against a wider pattern of overnight attacks. A Russian strike injured four people in Odesa, with infrastructure facilities targeted and two residential buildings plus a garage damaged, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the city's military administration. The blast wave shattered windows in neighboring homes, he wrote on Telegram.