President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack, which also killed a child, showed the world Russia's answer to diplomacy amid efforts by US President Donald Trump to end the war.
"Russia chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table," Zelenskiy said on X on Thursday, calling for new sanctions on Russia. "It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war."
Kyiv city authorities reported at least 38 injuries as the search and rescue operations were under way, with emergency services putting out the fires and sifting through the rubble of destroyed buildings.
The attack also damaged the European Union delegation's building in the city but the staff were safe, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.
She called on Russia to stop its "indiscriminatory attacks on civilian infrastructure and join negotiations for a just and lasting peace".
Explosions lit up the night sky in the capital during the air alert, which lasted for over nine hours, with clouds of smoke covering the sky as drones buzzed overhead.
Ukraine's air force said it downed 563 of 598 drones and 26 of 31 missiles launched by Russia in a country-wide attack.
The Air Force recorded hits at 13 locations and debris falling at 26 locations.
"Unfortunately, the Russians' style is typical in their attacks," Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, wrote on Telegram.
"Combined strikes, from different directions. And systematic, targeting ordinary residential buildings."
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up air strikes in recent months on Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines of the war.
Ukrainian officials listed numerous buildings that had suffered damage, including several high-rise apartment blocks.
In Darnytskyi district, an eastern suburb, a five-storey building had been partly destroyed, Tkachenko said, and rescue teams were searching the rubble for trapped residents.
Emergency crews are tackling the aftermath of the attacks at more than 20 sites in the capital, he said.
Separately, Moscow's Defence Ministry said Russian air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight, which had targeted at least seven regions.
In the overnight attack, Ukraine's forces attacked Afipsky and Kuybyshevskyi oil refineries, according to the Ukrainian drone forces commander.
with Reuters
