Russian aerial strike on Ukraine kills 6, including 2 children, as kindergarten hit, Kyiv says
Officials carry the children after the Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine on October 22, 2025. (Photo by Office of the President of Ukraine/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Russia overnight launched a heavy air attack on Ukraine — including striking Kyiv with drones and ballistic missiles — that killed at least six people, including two children.
It came hours after plans for President Donald Trump’s proposed summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to fall apart, leaving hopes of movement in the coming days towards ending the war once again in tatters.
Russia also directly struck a kindergarten in the eastern city of Kharkiv, according to Kyiv.
At least one drone hit the building where nearly 50 young children were inside, Ukrainian officials said.
Fortunately many or all were in its shelter, the local governor said.
“Fortunately, the children were in shelter during the alarm, and they were not injured,” the governor said on Telegram.”In total, 48 children were rescued by the State Emergency Service units. Four people were hospitalized, two of them are in serious condition, two are in moderate condition. Two more injured received outpatient medical care.”
Images released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine show firefighters carrying terrified toddlers to safety from the destroyed building.
Kharkiv’s regional State Emergency Service told ABC News one person had been killed and nine injured in the strikes on the city on Wednesday morning.
Forty-eight children were evacuated from the kindergarten. They are experiencing “acute stress reactions,” a spokesperson said.
Dozens of people also have had to be rescued in Kyiv after Russian drones and debris struck their high-rise apartment buildings.
President Volodymyr Zelensky noted the attacks showed Russia doesn’t “feel enough pressure for dragging out the war.”
(LONDON) — A supply of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine could help “push Russia back,” Margus Tsahkna — the foreign minister of NATO ally Estonia — told ABC News, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had “sort of made a decision” on whether to green-light the long-range weapon for Ukrainian use.
Tsahkna said in an interview Tuesday that Trump approving the supply of the cruise missile to Kyiv would send “a very strong message” to Moscow.
“Whatever we can give — without any restrictions — to Ukraine, it is helping to win the war and push Russia back,” Tsahkna said. “So, if President Trump and the U.S. is deciding to take down restrictions from military support, as well Tomahawks, it’s just helping Ukraine to win and push Russia back.”
“It’s up to the U.S. to decide that,” Tsahkna said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Kyiv is seeking access to the American-made long-range missile, different variants of which have ranges of up to 1,550 miles, according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Russia’s most populous and politically important cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and a host of important air, naval, oil refining and drone production facilities would be within range if the longest-range version of the Tomahawk is supplied to Ukraine.
There remain major obstacles to any Ukrainian use of Tomahawks. For one, the main launch platforms for the cruise missile are naval vessels — most commonly submarines — and bomber aircraft, neither of which Ukraine possesses.
Only in recent years has the U.S. developed a small and very limited capability of firing Tomahawks from large launch vehicles, known as the Typhon missile system. Germany and the Philippines have reportedly expressed an interest in obtaining the Typhon, but to date, only the U.S. operates the platform. The small numbers of such launch vehicles in the U.S. military’s inventory makes it likely that they would not be on the battlefield anytime soon if approved by President Trump.
NATO allies have said little on the potential for Ukrainian Tomahawk use, or allied support for their supply.
“I think I want to find out what they’re doing with them,” Trump said of Ukraine’s Tomahawk request on Monday. “I would ask some questions. I’m not looking to escalate that war.”
The Kremlin has warned that a Tomahawk supply to Ukraine would do just that.
“This will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a video clip released on Sunday by Russian state television.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow is “carefully analyzing” related developments.
“The question, as before, is as follows: Who can launch these missiles, even if they are on the territory of the Kyiv regime — can only Ukrainians launch them, or should the U.S. military do so?” he asked.
“Who sets the targets for these missiles — the American side or the Ukrainians themselves?” Peskov added. “Therefore, a very thorough analysis is needed here. We have certainly heard the statements, they are very serious, and we are studying them.”
“Even if this happens, there is no panacea that can now change the situation on the front lines for the Kyiv regime, there is no magic weapon, be it Tomahawks or missiles — they will not be able to change the dynamics,” Peskov said.
Officials in Kyiv said they disagree.
The Tomahawk “is extremely important as a deterrent weapon, because the presence of this weapon for Russia will be a clear signal that we have something to respond with if they continue this terror,” Serhiy Leshchenko, an adviser to the head of Zelenskyy’s office, said in a television appearance.
Andriy Kovalenko — the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council — said in posts to Telegram that the Tomahawk would represent “not tactical deterrence, but a strategic turning point.”
“As soon as Moscow and St. Petersburg fully and consistently feel the war, it will mean either a search for a replacement for Putin by the elites and an exit from the war, at least temporarily, or Putin himself will do everything to stop the war,” Kovalenko suggested.
But significant practical challenges remain.
Ivan Stupak, a former officer in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), suggested in an interview with ABC News that the Tomahawk is the latest headline-grabbing “wonder weapon” that would have a limited battlefield effect, even if the White House decided to approve its transfer to Ukrainian arsenals.
It is not clear how many Tomahawks the U.S. military could spare for Ukrainian use. The rate of Tomahawk production has ranged from 55 to 90 annually in recent years, according to Reuters. The Pentagon has already said it plans to purchase just 57 missiles in 2026.
The intensity of the war in Ukraine dwarfs those numbers. Recent months have seen Russia launch between 100 and 200 missiles of all types into Ukraine each month, per Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News. On a nightly basis, Ukraine launches dozens of long-range drones into Russia, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow.
Stupak, who has advised Ukrainian parliamentarians on security matters during Russia’s full-scale invasion, said he was skeptical that the U.S. would deliver enough Tomahawks to turn the tide of the war.
U.S. control over target selection may limit their effectiveness further, Stupak said, as may American concerns about sensitive technical data falling into Russian hands if any Tomahawks were captured.
Along with the issue of launch platforms, there would be a need for training. Unless American military personnel are on the ground to assist in their usage — and Trump has already publicly ruled out deployed U.S. troops to Ukraine — Ukrainian operators will also need significant training to be able to use the weapon.
Ukraine is already using shorter-range Western-supplied cruise missiles — the Storm Shadow/SCALP British-French cruise missile, which have a maximum range far shorter than the Tomahawk at around 155 miles.
The extent of allied involvement in their use is unclear, but Germany’s then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz was widely criticized for hinting in 2024 that British and French personnel were involved in “target control.”
Yuriy Boyechko, the CEO of the Hope For Ukraine humanitarian organization, told ABC News he was skeptical of any Tomahawk proposal.
“Ukraine currently does not possess the specialized launch equipment or the trained personnel needed to field the Tomahawk missile system,” he said. “Right now, Ukraine is under daily mass attacks and needs quick, practical solutions to protect civilians and to conduct offensive operations deep into Russian territory.”
The “only solution” for Kyiv, Stupak suggested, is for Ukraine to continue its own cruise missile and ballistic missile production drive.
Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — At least 41 drones were shot down while heading toward Moscow from Monday evening through to Tuesday morning, according to city Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, amid what Russian Defense Ministry data suggested was a major Ukrainian drone barrage.
Sobyanin said the first Ukrainian drones were downed at around 7:30 p.m. Moscow time — 12:30 p.m. EST — on Monday, with interceptions over the capital region continuing through into Tuesday morning.
Sobyanin reported no casualties but said emergency services were responding to reports of falling debris.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces downed at least 69 drones from midnight on Monday through to Tuesday morning.
On Monday, the ministry claimed to have downed a total of 236 Ukrainian drones — the largest daily tally since Sept. 12, and the second largest daily total through both August and September to date.
Elsewhere, Andriy Kovalenko — the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council — suggested in a post to Telegram that Ukrainian drones also targeted the Russian city of Yelabuga, in the Republic of Tatarstan and around 565 miles east of Moscow.
Yelabuga is home to the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, which houses a major Russian long-range strike drone manufacturing facility.
Flight disruptions occurred across Russia amid the attacks.
Rosaviatsiya, the federal air transport agency, reported temporary restrictions on commercial flights at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
The state-run Tass news agency said disruptions affected the capital’s other three airports — Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky.
Other airports in Yaroslavl, Saratov, Samara, Begishevo, Kazan and Gelendzhik were also put under temporary restrictions, Rosaviatsiya said.
The latest Ukrainian drone strikes come on the eve of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Trump’s efforts to forge a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine have so far been unsuccessful. The president has expressed frustration with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling on both to make concessions to secure a settlement.
Kyiv and its European allies are pressing Trump to impose new sanctions on Russia while expanding military aide for Ukraine and offering future security guarantees to guard against repeated Russian aggression.
Upon his arrival in New York, Zelenskyy said in a post to social media, “Almost two dozen meetings are planned. A busy few days lie ahead. Ukraine must become stronger.”
On Sunday, the Ukrainian president again urged international partners to do more to force Russia to negotiate an end to its three-and-a-half-year-old full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
“There is a real need for strong pressure on Russia, new joint steps from everyone in the world who believes that international law must work again,” Zelenskyy said, calling specifically on “Europe, the USA, the G7 and G20 countries — all those who have real influence on Russia.”
“Strong sanctions, strong political pressure, Russia’s accountability for the war — all of this is necessary,” Zelenskyy wrote. “All of this will happen.”
Russia, meanwhile, continued its own nightly long-range strike campaign overnight into Tuesday.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched three missiles and 115 drones into the country overnight, of which 103 drones were downed or suppressed.
The air force reported the impacts of all three missiles and 12 drones across six locations.
Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out airstrikes in Gaza City, Gaza, on August 22, 2025. Hamza Z. H. Qraiqea/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — The last remaining churches in Gaza will not evacuate amid Israel’s ramped-up military action and threats to destroy Gaza City, saying the clergy and nuns have decided they will “remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds,” the churches said in a joint statement to the Israel Defense Forces.
Hundreds of civilians — including women, children and elderly — have been seeking refuge in the Greek Orthodox compound of Saint Porphyrius and the Holy Family compound since the outbreak of the war and the Latin compound has been hosting people with disabilities who have been under the care of the Sisters Missionaries of Charity for many years, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement Tuesday.
“Like other residents of Gaza City, the refugees living in the facilities will have to decide according to their conscience what they will do. Among those who have sought shelter within the walls of the compounds, many are weakened and malnourished due to the hardships of the last months. Leaving Gaza City and trying to flee to the south would be nothing less than a death sentence. For this reason, the clergy and nuns have decided to remain and continue to care for all those who will be in the compounds,” the churches said.
The churches criticized Israel’s plans surrounding its decision to take control of Gaza City, saying, “There can be no future based on captivity, displacement of Palestinians or revenge.”
“We echo what Pope Leo XIV said a few days ago: ‘All peoples, even the smallest and weakest, must be respected by the powerful in their identity and rights, especially the right to live in their own lands; and no one can force them into exile,'” the churches said.
The churches called for an end to the war and the “spiral of violence.”
“There has been enough devastation, in the territories and in people’s lives. There is no reason to justify keeping civilians as prisoners and hostages in dramatic conditions.It is now time for the healing of the long-suffering families on all sides,” the churches said.
Israel began the first stages of its attack on Gaza City last week, calling up 50,000 to 60,000 reservists for the operation to occupy the city, according to IDF spokesman Eddie Defrin and an Israeli military official.
Mass protests against the military action on Gaza were seen across Israel on Tuesday, with protesters demanding the Israeli government get a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would secure the release of the remaining hostage held there.
Israel is also facing criticism for Monday’s attack on a hospital in Khan Younis that killed five journalists and 15 medical workers, according to their media organizations and the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Netanyahu called the attack a “tragic mishap.”
The IDF released an initial report on Tuesday, which concludes that “six of the individuals killed were terrorists, one of whom took part in the infiltration into Israeli territory on October 7th.”
