Father, 4-year-old son killed in Russian air strike on Kyiv region

By Sergiy Karazy and Valentyn Ogirenko

KYIV (Reuters) -A 4-year-old boy and his 35-year-old father were killed in an overnight Russian air strike outside of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

Three other people, including a teenage boy, were wounded in the attack just east of the capital, which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said involved a North Korean-made missile.

He did not offer further detail but Ukrainian emergency services earlier said the victims’ home in the Brovary district was struck by debris from a downed Russian missile.

Footage posted by Ukraine’s State Emergency Service showed workers digging through a pile of debris in the darkness and lifting the body of a child from underneath it.

“According to preliminary information, the Russians used a North Korean missile in this attack — yet another deliberate terrorist strike against Ukraine,” Zelenskiy wrote on X, adding that experts were still examining the weapon.

Moscow’s overnight strike also included 57 Iranian-made attack drones that were launched across Ukraine, 53 of which were destroyed by air defences, Kyiv’s air force said.

It said that Russia had fired a total of four North Korean-made KN-23 missiles, but did not specify the fate of the other three.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Zelenskiy’s top adviser had earlier said the Brovary fatalities were the result of a downed drone.

Zelenskiy, in his statement, called for “a full-fledged air shield” from Ukraine’s partners and permission to strike deep inside Russia with Western-provided weapons.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Moscow denies targeting civilians with its attacks but has targeted critical infrastructure beyond the front line of its 29-month-old invasion that has killed thousands and displaced millions of Ukrainians.