Kyiv reeled under an hours-long aerial assault as over 500 drones and multiple missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital, leaving dozens injured and widespread damage across six districts.
In a chilling escalation of hostilities, Russia launched its largest-ever combined drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, overnight, triggering panic and destruction across the city. Ukrainian defense forces reported that approximately 539 Iranian-made Shahed drones and 11 missiles were fired in the early hours, marking the most intense single-day assault since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
The eight-hour barrage injured at least 23 civilians, including 14 who were hospitalized. Strikes damaged around 40 residential buildings, schools, kindergartens, railways, and even parts of the Polish embassy.
Fires broke out across multiple neighborhoods, with debris igniting parts of a medical facility in the Holosiivskyi district. Despite Ukraine’s air defenses intercepting 268 drones and two missiles, the scale of the attack caused extensive collateral damage.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack, calling it a deliberate act of terror and urging the international community to strengthen support for Ukraine’s air defense systems.
The attack came just hours after a phone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, an event Ukrainian officials believe emboldened the Kremlin.
