In the most intense aerial attack since the start of the war, waves of Russian drones and missiles battered Kyiv overnight into Friday, injuring at least 23 people and leaving swaths of the capital scarred by destruction after a relentless seven-hour bombardment.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 550 drones and missiles nationwide during the night, including 11 missiles and a majority of Iranian-made Shahed drones.
“It was a harsh, sleepless night,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The assault marked a sharp escalation in Russia’s long-range campaign against Ukrainian cities, coming just days after Moscow carried out what had been the largest airstrike of the war.
The stepped-up aerial attacks mirror a broader Russian offensive on the ground, as Ukrainian forces face mounting pressure along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
The attack on Kyiv began the same day a phone call took place between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy called the timing of the strikes a deliberate signal that Moscow has no intention of ending the war.
Trump said he would call Zelenskyy on Friday. U.S.-led international peace efforts have been fruitless so far.
When asked if he made any progress with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine, Trump said, “No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all.”
“I’m not happy about that. I’m not happy about that,” he added, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow would continue to pursue its objectives in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Putin has argued he sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 to fend off a threat to Russia posed by Ukraine’s push to join NATO and to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine – claims rejected by Kyiv and its allies. He insisted that any prospective peace deal must include Ukraine abandoning its NATO bid and recognizing Russia’s territorial gains.
The U.S. has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine’s main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack.
Zelenskyy said plans are underway to build up Ukraine’s domestic arms industry, though scaling up will take time.
Throughout the night, Associated Press journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine-gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.
“Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on the social media platform X. “One of the worst so far.”
Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described “families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital.”
“What Kyiv endured last night cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” she wrote on X.
Kyiv was the primary target of the countrywide attack. At least 14 people were hospitalized, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.
Russia successfully struck eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.
In addition to the capital, the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions also sustained damage, Zelenskyy said.
Emergency services reported damage in at least five of the capital’s 10 districts. In the Solomianskyi district, a five-story residential building was partially destroyed and the roof of a seven-story building caught fire. Fires also broke out at a warehouse, a garage complex and an auto repair facility.
In the Sviatoshynskyi district, a strike hit a 14-story residential building, sparking a fire. Several vehicles also caught fire nearby. Blazes were reported at other non-residential facilities.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district, an eight-story building was hit, with the first floor sustaining damage. Falling debris was also reported in the Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts.
Ukraine’s national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia, said drone strikes damaged rail infrastructure in Kyiv.
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