Officials Detail Devastation After Direct Russian Missile Strike on Kyiv residential High-Rise building.

During Russia’s overnight attack on July 31, a direct missile hit struck a residential high-rise in Kyiv’s Sviatoshynskyi district. The missile is believed to have been a high-explosive warhead, though its type will be confirmed by experts. This was reported by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko during a briefing, according to Suspilne.

The engine of the missile was found inside the building.

“The explosion occurred between the fifth and sixth floors. It was so powerful that the upper floors were lifted, and the lower ones collapsed. That’s why the structure folded in on itself — and why there were so many casualties,” Klymenko explained.

In this building alone, 28 people died, including three children.

“People who were in their rooms, in corridors, hiding behind two walls — most of them were killed,” he added.

Rescue efforts were delayed due to the delicate task of recovering bodies from under heavy concrete slabs without causing further damage.

“At night, rescuers paused operations for two hours after finding a child. It was critical to recover the body intact, given the number of slabs. The last bodies we found were a woman and two children on the sixth floor. They had been crushed by a concrete wall,” Klymenko said.

By the morning of August 1, rescuers completed debris removal at the nine-story building destroyed in the strike. The death toll rose to 31, including five children.

In total, 159 people were injured in the Russian attack on July 31 – 16 of them children.