Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago, officials said.
The barrage injured at least 23 people and inflicted severe damage across multiple districts of the capital in a seven-hour onslaught. Blasts lit up the night sky and echoed across the city as air raid sirens wailed. The blue lights of emergency vehicles reflected off high-rise buildings, and debris blocked city streets.
“It was a harsh, sleepless night,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Russia has recently escalated its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Less than a week ago, it launched what was then the most extensive aerial assault of the war. This surge in strikes coincides with Russia’s broader effort to breach Ukraine’s roughly 1,000-kilometre front line, where Ukrainian forces are under severe strain.
Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine during the night, the country's air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, but Russia also launched 11 missiles in the attack.
Alya Shahlai, a 23-year-old wedding photographer in Kyiv, said her home was destroyed in the attack. “We were all in the (basement) shelter because it was so loud-staying home would have been suicidal,” she told the Associated Press. “We went down 10 minutes before, and then there was a loud explosion. The lights went out in the shelter, and people started panicking.”
'Trump not happy' with Russia's attacks
The attack on Kyiv began the same day a phone call took place between US 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 Zelenskiy on Friday. US-led international peace efforts have been fruitless so far. Recent direct peace talks have led only to sporadic exchanges of prisoners of war and fallen soldiers.
When asked if he made any progress with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine, he 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,” Trump said of Russia's war in Ukraine.
According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, the Russian leader emphasised that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the “root causes” of the conflict.
“Russia will not back down from these goals,” Ushakov told reporters after the call.
Russia's army crossed the border on February 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO. Zelenskyy has repeatedly called out Russian disinformation efforts.
With Inputs from AP.
