A major Russian air attack on Kyiv early Thursday, including a rare strike in the city center that damaged the European Union's diplomatic offices, killed at least 17 people and wounded 48 more, authorities said.

The Associated Press' Hanna Arhirova explained many of the dead had been inside the same residential building.

It was the first major Russian combined attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S.-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction.

Among the victims were four children between 2 and 17, said Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s city administration.

The numbers were expected to rise as rescue teams pulled people trapped underneath the rubble.

Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of different types across the country, according to Ukraine's Air Force, making it one of the war's biggest air attacks.

AP video by Vasilisa Stepanenko