Russia launches – Russia’s overnight barrage across Ukraine killed 18 people and injured more than 100, with Kyiv and Dnipro among the hardest hit. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired 73 missiles and more than 600 drones, and urged Washington to send addit
Kyiv woke to the sound of another wave of strikes—this time with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles hitting early on Tuesday, leaving apartment blocks damaged, residents injured and the kind of uncertainty that turns sheltering into routine.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister said the attacks killed 13 people and injured more than 100. while Ukrainian authorities later put the overall toll at 18 dead and more than 100 wounded. Officials said the violence struck Kyiv and Dnipro among other cities. following Russian warnings of “systematic” strikes on the Ukrainian capital after a deadly drone attack on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held region of Luhansk last month. Kyiv denies targeting the dormitory.
The attacks mark the third heavy assault on Kyiv in under a month, but they also underscore how relentless Russia’s campaign against Ukrainian cities has been since its invasion of its smaller neighbor in 2022.
Zelenskyy said the scale was clear. “This was a large-scale attack and an absolutely clear statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
He said Russia fired 73 missiles and more than 600 drones during the overnight attack. and again urged Washington to send additional Patriot missile interceptors to replenish Kyiv’s dwindling supplies. Zelenskyy sent a letter last week to President Donald Trump and Congress asking for air defense systems; as of Monday. officials said he had not received a response.
In Moscow, officials framed the barrage as a response to what they described as Ukrainian attacks on civilians. The Kremlin said on Tuesday the war had entered “a new paradigm” after what it called “inhumane acts of terror” by Ukraine’s military against civilians. Moscow warned last week of systemic strikes and urged foreigners to leave Kyiv.
That dispute over intent—what each side says it is targeting—has hung over the conflict for months. Ukraine has hit civilian targets during attacks on Russia or Russian-occupied areas, though on a far smaller scale, and both sides deny targeting civilians.
At ground level, the attack left residents scrambling for cover as explosions lit up the city. Photos from Kyiv showed large blasts and plumes of smoke billowing over high-rise buildings. Kyiv officials said the overnight strikes killed six people and wounded close to 80, including three children.
Olha Mudra, standing at one strike site with her 6-year-old daughter Natalia, described the confusion as the first impacts hit. “We couldn’t understand what was happening – some kind of apocalypse?” she said, her face and clothes covered in dust.
In Dnipro, 12 people were killed, including two young boys, local officials said. A four-story apartment building was partially destroyed. Officials said Kyiv was the main target. and authorities reported damage to at least nine high-rise buildings as well as a kindergarten. a clinic. offices and administrative buildings.
The physical toll extended beyond the buildings. Ukraine’s power company DTEK said the attacks temporarily cut power to 140,000 residents in Kyiv. Thousands also took shelter in the Kyiv subway system, some carrying pets, belongings and mattresses.
Russia’s missile and drone tally showed why Kyiv’s air defenses are under pressure. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 656 drones and 73 missiles. including 33 hard-to-shoot-down ballistic missiles and eight Zircon hypersonic missiles. which it said appeared to be the largest number of such missiles used during the war. The Zircon has a range of 625 miles and travels at nine times the speed of sound, Moscow says. Ukraine’s air force said its units shot down or neutralised 40 missiles and 602 drones. but did not list the Zircons among those intercepted.
Russia’s defense ministry said it carried out a “massive strike” on Ukraine’s defense industry facilities using high-precision long-range weapons, and it later added that its strikes hit 10 military production facilities in Kyiv.
Ukraine reported casualties in other regions as well. In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, a child was among 14 people injured. Poland said it scrambled military jets to secure its airspace after the Russian strikes on Ukraine.
The spillover of strikes and retaliatory risks also appeared beyond Ukraine’s borders. In Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar. the Ilsky oil refinery caught fire after a drone attack. local authorities said on Telegram; Ukraine’s military confirmed the strike. In the Belgorod region bordering Ukraine. an 11-year-old boy was injured after a Ukrainian drone hit a home. local authorities said.
Russian officials said they repelled further drone activity closer to home. Russian news agencies cited the defense ministry in saying Russia downed a total of 148 Ukrainian drones overnight. and air defense systems also repelled drones over Sevastopol in Russia-occupied Crimea. authorities there said. Reuters could not independently verify all the reports.
The Biden-era diplomatic push has not produced momentum as the air war intensified. U.S.-brokered talks on the war in Ukraine have stalled, with Washington focusing on Iran. At the same time. Russian advances on the battlefield have slowed this year. while Kyiv has stepped up its strikes on Russian oil refineries.
Russian and Ukrainian leaders now press their cases for support in parallel. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged partners to take “concrete steps” to help Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia. calling for tougher sanctions and more military support. “Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this. What we can change is Russia’s ability to continue terror,” Sybiha said on X.
For residents in Kyiv, the fight over who is to blame does not change the immediate reality: another night of drones, another morning of cleanup, and another plea—this one directed toward Washington—for the interceptors Ukraine says it needs to keep the next strike from landing.
Russia Ukraine attack Kyiv drones missiles Dnipro apartment building Zelenskyy Patriot interceptors air defense supplies Zircon hypersonic missiles DTEK power outage Kharkiv injuries