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Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was struck by a heavy barrage of missiles and drones from Russia overnight, resulting in the deaths of three people, according to Ukrainian officials. Explosions were heard throughout the city during the incident.
This strike came after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning, communicated through United States leader Donald Trump, indicating that Russia would retaliate after Ukrainian drones had destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in deep Russian territory.
According to Kyiv’s military administration, the attack resulted in the deaths of three individuals within the city. These casualties included first responders who were at the site of one of the attacks, as stated by interior minister Ihor Klymenko.
“Overnight, Russia ‘responded’ to its destroyed aircraft … by attacking civilians in Ukraine … Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged,” foreign minister Andrii Sybiha posted on X.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that the targets were military and military-connected and that the attack was a response to Ukrainian “terrorist acts” on Russian territory.
“Everything conducted within the special military operation in Ukraine, and all actions undertaken by our forces daily, is in response to the Kyiv regime’s acts, which now have the hallmarks of a terrorist regime,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
In a bold move during the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian intelligence operatives demolished a purported US$7 billion ($10.8 billion) worth of Russian strategic bombers using quadrocopter drones hidden in wooden sheds over the previous weekend.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the mission — dubbed Operation Spider’s Web — “our most long-range operation” in more than three years of war.
The Kremlin was planning an unspecified response to the Ukrainian attack on Russian air bases, Trump said after a telephone conversation with Putin on Wednesday.
“President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields,” Trump said after the conversation.
Russia has also accused Ukraine of being behind a deadly bomb attack on a bridge over a railway line in western Russia at the weekend that was blown up just as a train carrying 388 passengers to Moscow was passing underneath.
Seven people were killed and 155 injured in the incident, which Kyiv has not taken responsibility for.
Zelenskyy calls for pressure on Russia after attacks
Zelenskyy said 49 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks on Kyiv, which also struck several other towns and cities, as he called on Ukraine’s Western allies to ramp up pressure on Russia.
The air force said Russia had used 407 drones, one of the largest numbers recorded in a single attack. Forty-five cruise and ballistic missiles were also fired, it said.
Kyiv’s metro transport system was disrupted by a Russian strike that hit and damaged tracks between stations, the military administration said. The state rail company said it was also diverting some trains due to rail damage outside the city.
Reuters witnesses reported a series of booming explosions powerful enough to rattle windows far from the impact sites.
Some Kyiv residents sought shelter in metro stations, or in underground car parks.
In the capital’s Solomianskyi district, a Russian drone slammed into the side of an apartment building, leaving a gaping hole and burn marks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.
Falling concrete blocks from the building crushed cars parked below. Two police investigators were examining what appeared to be the drone’s engine.
Earlier in the night, Reuters reporters heard the sound of Russian kamikaze drones buzzing in the sky, accompanied by the sounds of outgoing fire from Ukrainian anti-aircraft batteries.
The Russian military said in its statement that it had used long-range weapons to strike Ukraine.
“In retaliation for terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive overnight strike utilizing long-range air, sea, and land-based precision weapons,” the ministry stated.
It said the strike had targeted “Ukrainian design bureaus, enterprises for the production and repair of weapons and military equipment, assembly workshops for strike drones, flight training centres, and Ukrainian armed forces weapons and military equipment depots.”
“The objective of the strike was achieved. All designated targets were hit.”
Zelenskyy called for concerted pressure on Russia.
“If pressure isn’t applied and the war is allowed to persist with further loss of life – that equates to complicity and accountability. We must take strong action,” he urged on X.
As well as Kyiv, Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, Mayor Serhii Nadal said.
The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and recommended that residents temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire.
Fifteen people were injured in the northwestern city of Lutsk where an attack damaged private homes, educational institutions and a government building, prosecutors said.
The Ukrainian military said it had launched a pre-emptive strike overnight on the Engels and Dyagilevo airfields in the Russian regions of Saratov and Ryazan, in addition to striking at least three fuel reservoirs.
