Russia launched the largest drone strike on Kyiv since the start of the war, injuring at least 23 people and damaging multiple buildings across the city, officials reported, reports RTE.
Air raid alarms, the noise of kamikaze drones, and loud explosions echoed from early evening into the morning as Russia carried out what Ukraine’s Air Force described as a barrage of 539 drones and 11 missiles.
During the assault, residents took shelter with their families in underground metro stations. The attack came just hours after US President Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, reports RTE.
Following the call, the Kremlin said Mr Putin told Mr Trump that Russia would not “give up” on its goals in Ukraine but would continue talks aimed at resolving the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is expected to speak with Mr Trump later regarding the conflict and a pause in US shipments of some air defence missiles, described the attack as “deliberately massive and cynical”, reports RTE.
“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Mr Zelensky said in a post on X.
“Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror,” he added, urging for more sanctions against Russia and greater supply of air defence systems, reports RTE.
Officials in Kyiv said the strikes damaged around 40 residential buildings, passenger railway facilities, five educational institutions, as well as cafes and numerous cars in six out of the city’s ten districts.
Poland reported that the consular section of its embassy in central Kyiv sustained damage, though no staff were harmed, reports RTE.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated on Telegram that 14 of the injured were taken to hospital.
Ukraine’s state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia, the nation’s largest railway operator, wrote on Telegram that the drone strikes forced the rerouting of several passenger trains, causing service delays, reports RTE.
Destruction was reported on both sides of the Dnipro River, which divides Kyiv. Debris from drones ignited a blaze at a healthcare centre in the tree-lined Holosiivskyi district, according to Mr Klitschko.
In recent weeks, Russian aerial attacks on Kyiv have become more frequent, including some of the most lethal strikes seen throughout the conflict in the capital, home to three million people, reports RTE.
Mr Trump said his conversation with Mr Putin led to no advancement toward ending the war, while the Kremlin again emphasized that it would continue pursuing a resolution to what it considers the conflict’s “root causes”.
A recent decision by Washington to suspend delivery of certain key military supplies to Ukraine led Kyiv to warn that the delay would hinder its ability to counter intensifying air raids and battlefield offensives, reports RTE.
Mr Zelensky called for more international pressure on Russia to alter its “dumb, destructive behaviour”.
“For every such strike against people and human life, they must feel appropriate sanctions and other blows to their economy, their revenues, and their infrastructure,” he said, reports RTE.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported shooting down 478 of the drones and missiles launched overnight by Russia.
However, it confirmed that airstrikes struck eight areas throughout the country, involving nine missiles and 63 drones.
Footage shared on social media showed civilians running for shelter, emergency crews tackling fires in the darkness, and buildings with shattered windows and damaged facades, reports RTE.
Both Russia and Ukraine continue to deny that civilians are being intentionally targeted in the war, which began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The conflict has claimed thousands of civilian lives—most of them Ukrainian—and untold numbers of soldiers on both sides, though official military death counts remain undisclosed, reports RTE.
Late yesterday, Ukraine said Russian shelling killed five people in and around Pokrovsk, an eastern city that has faced sustained Russian attacks in recent months.
At the same time, Russia announced a new prisoner-of-war exchange with Ukraine, referring to an agreement reached during talks held in Istanbul last month, reports RTE.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, Ukraine returned a “group of Russian servicemen,” and Russia in turn released a “group of Ukrainian soldiers”.
The exact number of troops involved in the exchange was not disclosed, reports RTE.
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