Nine of the dead were found among concrete and rubble in a nine-story building in eastern Kyiv where half of the building had essentially been blown away.
Three more people are still missing, city authorities announced on Friday morning. More than 90 people are reported injured.
Russia's attack on Ukraine and Kyiv on Thursday night was the most extensive in weeks. Around 20 large civilian residential buildings have been damaged. Floors have been blown away, entire staircases have been leveled, and large fires have been extinguished.
More than 50,000 Kyiv residents sought shelter underground, in the city's metro stations.
“About to lose”
According to a Ukrainian military source, Russia used more than 70 missiles and nearly 500 drones in the attacks, the majority of which were aimed at Kyiv. Ukrainian officials believe that this many ballistic missiles have never been fired at the capital in any previous attack during the war.
A large Red Cross warehouse was completely destroyed, along with large amounts of equipment and supplies intended to help Ukrainian civilians in the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut short a visit to Ireland because of the attacks. On Thursday, he visited the worst-hit neighborhood in eastern Kyiv and lamented that countries that had pledged to help Ukraine had not delivered enough anti-aircraft missiles in time.
Zelenskyy sees the widespread attacks on civilians as evidence that Russia and its President Vladimir Putin are “losing the war”:
He realizes that the only thing he can do is scare people and simply kill civilians with drone attacks.
Deadly counterattack
Friday has been declared a formal day of mourning in Kyiv.
Russia has justified the latest attacks as revenge for Ukrainian attacks on Russia. Ukraine has escalated its counterattacks against the invading force in recent months, shelling locations further and further into the country, primarily oil facilities and military targets.
A Ukrainian missile hit the Russian border region of Belgorod overnight Friday, killing a civilian woman, according to Russian authorities and state media.
