KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched an overnight assault of drones and missiles on Ukraine into Sunday, resulting in at least four fatalities, with Kyiv facing the most severe attack.
This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Ukraine’s capital left at least 21 people dead last month.
Kyiv bears the brunt of the attack
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed the casualties through Telegram on Sunday, reporting that 10 more individuals were injured in strikes on civilian areas across the city, including a 12-year-old girl. A plume of thick black smoke was visible from an explosion near the city center.
“The Russians have restarted the child death counter,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s air force noted on Sunday that Russia had fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles. Out of these, air defenses successfully shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.
Alongside Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the areas targeted included Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa. Zelenskyy posted on X that at least 40 people were injured nationwide. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry later updated the number of wounded to 70, with over 100 civilian structures damaged.
Ivan Fedorov, Zaporizhzhia’s regional leader, reported that among the 27 injured in the area were three children, and noted that more than two dozen buildings incurred damage in the region’s capital, which shares the same name.
“This vile attack occurred almost at the closing of the U.N. General Assembly week, illustrating Russia’s true stance. Moscow is intent on continuing its fight and causing death, warranting the world to impose the strictest pressure,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told world leaders on Saturday that his nation doesn’t intend to attack Europe, but will mount a “decisive response” to any aggression.
Residents shaken
The strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn on Sunday also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said that damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.
At Kyiv’s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.
“The sky has turned black again,” said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. “It’s happening a lot.”
Ilona Kovalenko, a 38-year-old resident of a five-story building struck in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, told The Associated Press that she woke up because of the explosion, which shattered windows.
“A neighbor kept knocking on our door. She was completely covered in blood and shouting, ‘help, save my daughter,'” said Kovalenko, who fled the building with her grandmother after the strike.
Oleksandra, the neighbor’s daughter, was the 12-year-old killed in the attack.
“Sadly, she died on the spot,” Kovalenko said. “We are in shock, to be honest.”
Another multistory residential building was heavily damaged by the attack. Emergency services personnel used power saws to clear the debris. Piles of glass littered nearby sidewalks as building residents, some looking shaken, sat on benches.
“There are no warehouses or plants here. We were sure that nothing would happen, but it hit us here,” Volodymyr, a retired Kyiv resident who only gave his first name, told the AP at the site of a missile strike.
The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed that Russia’s military only strikes military targets.
Russian officials didn’t immediately comment on the latest attacks.
Polish military responses triggered
The assault also triggered military responses in neighboring Poland, where fighter jets were deployed early Sunday as Russia struck targets in western Ukraine, according to the Polish armed forces.
Polish military officials characterized these defensive measures as “preventative.”
International concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter aircraft entering Estonian airspace.
Russia denied that its planes entered Estonian airspace and said that none of its drones targeted Poland.
The latest bombardment follows Zelenskyy’s announcement Saturday of what he called a “mega deal” for weapons purchases from the United States. The $90 billion package includes both the major arms agreement and a separate “drone deal” for Ukrainian-made drones that the U.S. will purchase directly.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its air defenses shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday.
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Elise Morton reported from London.
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