Russia hits seat of Kyiv government

At least 2 dead, govt building ablaze

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Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early yesterday, killing at least two people and setting the seat of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv ablaze, authorities said.

An AFP reporter saw the roof of Ukraine's cabinet of ministers in flames and smoke billowing over the capital.

Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in Kyiv, according to emergency services.

Russia has shown no sign of halting its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, pushing hardline demands for ending the war despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal.

The barrage came after several European countries, led by France and Britain, pledged Thursday to deploy “reassurance” forces to Ukraine to patrol a peace deal between the warring sides — a demand Moscow has deemed unacceptable.

The strike on Ukraine's cabinet of ministers, a sprawling government complex at the heart of Kyiv, was the first such strike of the war.