The main government building in Kyiv is on fire after Russia’s largest air attack of the war so far. Three have been killed, according to officials, including a child. Follow the latest below.
Sunday 7 September 2025 08:13, UK
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At least three people were killed in Russia’s attack on Ukraine overnight, according to officials.
According to Timur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, that figure includes a one-year-old baby, whose body was pulled from rubble in the Darnytskyi district.
He said a young woman also died there, where a four-storey block of flats was damaged.
Earlier, Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said an elderly woman died in a bomb shelter in, while a pregnant woman was among the injured.
State emergency officials said 18 people have been injured in total so far.
Ukraine says it has once again attacked the Druzhba oil pipeline in Russia’s Bryansk region, causing “comprehensive fire damage”.
That’s according to the commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, Robert Brovdi.
This pipeline supplies oil to Hungary and Slovakia, which continue to buy energy from Russia, even after the EU moved to cut ties.
Kyiv says it goes for Russia’s oil pipelines to undermine its war effort.
Brovdi’s claim has not been independently verified and Russia has not commented on the attack.
But Russia has commented on what it says was a separate attack on the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar.
The administration of the southern Russian region said a fire was quickly put out.
“One of the processing units caught fire. The blaze, covering several square metres, was quickly extinguished,” the administration said.
“There were no casualties. Fire and rescue teams, as well as special and emergency services, are working at the scene. The refinery personnel were evacuated to shelters.”
The night sky over Ukraine’s capital was lit up with drones and missiles overnight in what Kyiv says was Russia’s largest air attack of the war so far.
These were some of the scenes from the city, where a headquarters building of the Ukrainian government caught fire.
With Russia’s aerial bombardment overnight threatening western Ukraine, neighbour Poland activated its own and allied aircraft in response.
The operational command of the Polish armed forces said: “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness.”
At about 1.30am UK time (3.30am in Ukraine), almost all of Ukraine was under air raid alerts.
Ukrainian officials say Russia’s largest aerial attack of the war so far has set the main government building on fire.
Three are said to have been killed, including a child, whose body was pulled from the rubble in Kyiv.
The country’s prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said: “For the first time, the government building was damaged by an enemy strike – its roof and upper floors.”
Rescue teams are working on putting the fire out.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight, with defence units downing 751 drones and four missiles.
That’s the highest number of drones Russia has used to attack the country since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Thanks for following our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. We’ll be back soon with the latest updates.
Before then, here’s a rundown of what’s been happening so far today:
Watch: Western troops in Ukraine ‘legitimate’ targets
Here are the latest images from the frontline showing Ukrainian troops defending their positions in the Donetsk region.
Vladimir Putin reportedly wants control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine – known as the Donbas – as a condition for ending the war.
He has also previously called for the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions to come under Moscow’s control. Russia annexed the two regions, along with Donetsk and Luhansk, after the start of the full-scale invasion, despite still only controlling around three quarters of the regions.
Both during his recent trip to Beijing, and during today’s economic forum in Russia, Vladimir Putin has spoken about the planned Power of Siberia 2 (PS-2) gas pipeline.
The project could one day deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China via Mongolia, allowing Beijing to hedge against any future reliance on American gas.
While Xi Jinping’s guest of honour, Russian media announced a “breakthrough” agreement was signed on PS-2, but Gazprom have said that pricing is yet to be agreed.
Speaking on Wednesday, Putin claimed there was “no charity” involved in the pipeline agreement – with Russia reliant upon China’s trade to keep its economy afloat. However, he added Moscow would give Beijing gas at a price lower than Europe.
“The growing Chinese economy has needs, and we have the opportunity to supply these raw materials,” he said.
“Everyone is satisfied, everyone is happy with this result, to be honest, and so am I.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had held “substantive” talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during his visit to Ukraine’s western city of Uzhhorod today.
“We covered key topics – matters of principle for Ukraine and matters of principle for Slovakia,” he said on X.
Slovakia, together with Hungary, is still heavily reliant on Russian gas imports and repeatedly criticised Ukraine for attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Fico has also faced criticism this week for breaking ranks with the EU and taking part in a military parade in China, meeting Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin for bilateral talks.
Donald Trump is to rebrand the US Department of Defence as the Department of War, according to the White House.
The president will sign an executive order tonight allowing it to be used as a secondary title for the US government’s biggest organisation.
It also means defence secretary Pete Hegseth will be able to refer to himself as the “secretary of war” in official communications and ceremonies.
Permanently renaming the department would need congressional approval, but the White House said the executive order will instruct Hegseth to begin the process.
The US has spent $134.5bn (£99.5bn) on Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in 2022, according to the Kiel Institute, a German think tank tracking international support for Ukraine.
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