ISTANBUL

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday condemned Russia’s overnight missile and drone strikes on Kyiv, describing the assault as “terror and barbarism.”

“629 missiles and drones in a single night over Ukraine: this is Russia’s idea of peace. Terror and barbarism,” Macron said on US social media company X.

He confirmed that the wave of strikes "deliberately targeted" residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital, leaving “more than a dozen dead, including children.”

He noted that the offices of the European Union Delegation and the British Council were among the damaged buildings.

“France condemns these senseless and cruel attacks in the strongest possible terms,” he stressed, voicing solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Macron pledged “full support to the Ukrainian people” and expressed “deepest compassion for all the grieving families.”

At least 14 people, including three children, were killed and 48 others injured in a Russian attack on Kyiv early Thursday, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The Kyiv City Military Administration said the number of casualties increased to 48 as of 9.34 am local time (0634GMT), with 12 confirmed deaths.

The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office reported that the consequences of the morning strike were recorded in eight districts of the capital, including Darnytskyi, Dniprovskyi, Solomyanskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Holosiivskyi, Obolonskyi, Svyatoshynskyi and Desnyanskyi.

In the Darnytskyi district, part of a five-story residential building was destroyed, and rescue operations are underway to search for people trapped under the rubble. Windows in nearby high-rise buildings were shattered, cars were damaged, and private homes sustained destruction, the prosecutor’s office said.