Overnight, a barrage of Russian missiles struck residential areas in Kyiv, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens more. The attack, which targeted civilian infrastructure including an apartment block and a shopping centre, comes hours before G7 leaders are due to hold an emergency summit on the Ukraine conflict.
These strikes are a grim reminder of the physical reality of war: the laws of physics dictating missile trajectories, the energy released upon impact, the thermal radiation and blast waves that destroy concrete and bone. The meteorological conditions were clear, allowing for precise targeting. Yet the target was not a military installation but residential buildings in the city centre. This is not an accident; it is a deliberate tactic of terror.
The G7 summit, scheduled for this week in Bavaria, will now focus intensively on Ukraine. Leaders will discuss further sanctions on Russia, increased military aid to Ukraine, and long-term energy security. The timing of the attack appears designed to signal defiance, but it also underscores the urgent need for a unified response.
From a scientific perspective, the conflict's impact on global energy systems is becoming critical. Russia's manipulation of gas supplies to Europe is driving an accelerated energy transition. Solar and wind capacity additions this year are expected to break records. But the transition comes with costs: supply chain bottlenecks, rare earth mineral dependencies, and grid stability issues. The physical sciences remind us that energy systems have inertia; replacements take time and capital.
The biosphere too is collateral damage. The war has caused thousands of hectares of land to be abandoned, with unexploded ordnance preventing return. Ecosystems are fragmenting. And the carbon emissions from military operations and rebuilding will set back climate goals.
For now, the immediate concern is human. The casualties are not statistics; they are individuals with heat signatures that have faded. Our tools can measure the crater depth, the blast overpressure, the radiological fallout if any. But they cannot restore the lives lost.
The G7 must act with calm urgency. Each missile that lands is a missed opportunity for diplomacy. Each day of conflict is a day of carbon debt we cannot repay. The physics of climate change is unforgiving: greenhouse gases mix evenly in the atmosphere, and their warming effect is independent of the political cause. The world is interconnected. Kyiv's pain will be felt in Karachi, in Kansas City, in Canberra.
As we report the casualty figures, we must also track the larger systemic shifts. The war is a stress test for global governance. The outcome will shape the energy and climate trajectory for decades. The G7 has a responsibility not just to respond to the immediate crisis but to steer the world away from the abyss of both war and ecological collapse.
The missiles have fallen. The summit will convene. The data will be collected. But the question remains: will we act with the coherence that the physical reality demands?
