Russia launched one of its most sustained aerial campaigns of the year against Kyiv overnight, killing at least 12 people and wounding more than a dozen others in a sixth consecutive night of strikes on the Ukrainian capital and its surrounding region.
An Unprecedented Stretch Of Attacks
Ukrainian officials said the assault, which began in the early evening and continued for more than 12 hours, involved ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and roughly 218 drones, a third of them faster jet-powered models that are far harder for air defenses to intercept. It marks the longest run of consecutive heavy strikes on Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion began more than four and a half years ago.
Rail Workers Among The Dead
Eight of the deaths occurred within Kyiv itself, seven of them at a railway depot on the city's left bank where six of the victims were employees of the state rail operator, according to its chairman. Four more people were killed in the suburb of Boryspil, where a residential building was struck and around 50 residents had to be evacuated; officials said one of those killed there was a foreign national.
Civilian Infrastructure Targeted
Ukraine's air force said its defenses shot down several Iskander ballistic missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles and the vast majority of the drones launched, though dozens still got through to hit residential buildings, rail infrastructure and other civilian sites across multiple districts of the capital. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes again targeted an ordinary residential building alongside rail infrastructure, and repeated his call for allies to bolster Ukraine's air-defense systems.
International Reaction
European officials said the intensifying campaign reflects Russia's stalled progress on the battlefield rather than momentum, with the EU's top diplomat saying Moscow's forces are bogged down on the ground and turning to strikes on civilians from the air instead. The attacks came as leaders from China, Russia and India met separately, where India's prime minister voiced support for moving toward an end to the fighting.