KYIV, Ukraine, Aug 28, (AP): A mass Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital, including a rare strike in the center of the city, early Thursday killed at least 14 people and wounded 48, local authorities said. It was the first major Russian combined attack on Kyiv in weeks as US-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction.

Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of different types across the country, according to Ukraine's Air Force, making it one of the war's biggest air attacks. Among the dead were three children ages 2, 14 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration. The numbers are expected to rise.

Rescue teams were on site to pull people trapped underneath the rubble. "Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X following the attack. "We expect a response from everyone in the world who has called for peace but now more often stays silent rather than taking principled positions.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday it shot down 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly in the country’s southwest. A drone attack sparked a blaze at the Afipsky oil refinery in the Krasnodar region, local officials said, while a second fire was reported at the Novokuibyshevsk refinery in the Samara region. Ukrainian drones have repeatedly struck refineries and other oil infrastructure in recent weeks in an attempt to weaken Russia's war economy, causing gas stations in some Russian regions to run dry and prices to spike.

Russia launched decoy drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, said Tkachenko. At least 20 locations across seven districts of Kyiv had impacts. Nearly 100 buildings were damaged, including a shopping mall in the city center, and thousands of windows were shattered, he said. Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralized 563 drones and decoys and 26 missiles across the country, its Air Force said.

Russian strikes hit the central part of Kyiv, one of the few times Russian attacks have reached the heart of the Ukrainian capital since the start of the full-scale invasion. Residents cleared shattered glass and debris from damaged buildings. Sophia Akylina said her home was damaged. "It’s never happened before that they attacked so close,” the 21-year old said.