Kyiv Reels as Russia Launches Nearly 600 Missiles and Drones in Deadliest Strike Since May

Russia carried out one of its most intense overnight assaults on Kyiv, unleashing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles on the Ukrainian capital in an attack that ripped through residential buildings, left at least 18 people dead and injured more than 90 others, according to Reuters.

Speaking exclusively with News Agency from Ukraine, Andrii Melnyk, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, described the barrage as “the most horrific night for Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.”

“Early this morning, I spoke with my mother-in-law, who is in Kyiv. She told me she had never been so terrified. It felt as if the biblical Apocalypse were unfolding before her very eyes. Everyone was praying.”

Explosions echoed across central Kyiv for hours, sending thousands of residents scrambling into bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The strike caused the most widespread damage seen in the capital so far in 2026 and was the deadliest attack on Kyiv since at least May, when 24 people were killed after an apartment block collapsed.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 74 missiles and launched 496 drones during the overnight attack, Reuters reported.

Yuri Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said the number of ballistic missiles used in the assault was unusually high. He added that Ukraine’s ability to intercept them remained limited, in part because of continuing shortages of Patriot missiles.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who cut short a visit to Ireland and returned to Ukraine, said damage had been recorded at more than 20 locations across the capital.

“The main strike was directed at Kyiv,” Zelenskyy said. “Air defence supplies for Ukraine are an absolute and critical priority.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday a day of mourning and said damage had been recorded across the city of roughly 3 million people.

Melnyk told News Agency the attack should force the international community to confront Russia’s status inside the U.N. Security Council.

“And yet, this barbaric Russia continues to be treated at the U.N. as a normal member state,” he said. “It is time to end this parallel reality. Russia’s status as a permanent member of the Security Council should finally be called into question. Russia should be treated for what it has become: a pariah state.”

Emergency crews searched through the rubble of a nine-story building on the left bank of the Dnipro River as fires continued to burn after sunrise. City officials said some people remained trapped inside damaged residential buildings.

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East2West footage showed the overnight barrage from inside Kyiv, including a baby sleeping as explosions flashed outside an open window and smoke from an earlier strike rose nearby. Other footage showed residents sheltering near a metro station as strikes hit the capital, as well as heavy damage across Kyiv, including residential buildings torn apart and thick smoke hanging over parts of the city.

More than 20 sites were damaged, including residential buildings, diplomatic accommodation and the National Institute of Biochemistry, where a state-of-the-art laboratory and offices were gutted.

Katarina Mathernova, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, said Russia “unleashed hell on Kyiv” overnight and struck accommodation used by diplomatic personnel. Diplomats were not injured, but their belongings were damaged in a fire that engulfed the building, she said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that its “massive attack” used long-range, high-precision weapons and drones to strike military and energy facilities, as well as airports in Kyiv and other locations. Moscow said the attack was retaliation for Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia. 

Ukraine said it hit an oil refinery overnight in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, where the regional governor reported one person killed in a strike on an industrial facility.

The Kremlin said Russian military commanders briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the attacks and said Moscow would continue increasing pressure on Ukraine to achieve its war aims.

Poland, a NATO and European Union member that borders Ukraine, briefly scrambled fighter jets as a preventive measure. Finland also briefly issued a temporary aviation restriction zone in the eastern Gulf of Finland, its defense forces said.

Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu told News Agency that Russian drones were detected in Ukraine roughly 30 kilometers from Romania’s border Wednesday, prompting NATO air-policing aircraft to respond.

“Two Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft deployed under the Enhanced Air Policing mission and operating from the 86th Air Base in Fetești in Romania, were scrambled to monitor the Romanian airspace situation near the border with Ukraine,” Țoiu said. “A Romanian Air Force IAR 330 Puma helicopter was also deployed. Such incidents have constantly accompanied Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that she would propose new sanctions on entities supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex in response to the strikes.

“The more Moscow attacks civilians, the more sanctions must be imposed,” Kallas said in a post on X.

Russia has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians in strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians but says attacks on what it calls civil infrastructure are legitimate because they affect Ukraine’s ability to wage war.