Kiev, 1 August 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The number of people killed in a massive Russian attack on Kiev a day earlier has risen further, after further bodies were recovered from under rubble, officials said on Friday.

A total of 31 people have died in the strikes according to the current count, including five minors the youngest of whom was 2 years old, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Authorities had put the death toll from the overnight strikes at 16 on Thursday evening, including two children aged 2 and 6, as well as a 17-year-old boy.

Some 160 people were injured in the attacks, according to the civil defence force.

"Once again, this vile strike by Russia demonstrates the need for increased pressure on Moscow and additional sanctions," Zelensky wrote on X.

"In July alone, Russia used over 5,100 glide bombs against Ukraine, more than 3,800 'shaheds' (drones), and nearly 260 missiles of various types – 128 of them ballistic. This can only be stopped through joint efforts – by America, Europe, and other global actors."

Russia continued to pummel Ukraine with drones the following night, with a 63-year-old man killed in the Zaporizhzhya region, according to military governor Ivan Fedorov. Another four people were injured in the attack.

Four people were injured by drone strikes in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak reported, including a 4-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl.

Two farms, a high school and a post office caught fire, with a blaze also recorded on a private property.

Russian forces deployed some 72 drones in their latest nightly attacks on Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.

Some 44 drones were intercepted, with 28 impacts recorded in nine locations in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk and Kiev.

Photo: EPA