According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a prolonged Russian aerial assault, which continued for over 12 hours, resulted in the deaths of at least four people and injured more than 70 others across Ukraine.
The attacks, which he described as “vile”, targeted seven regions with almost 600 drones and dozens of missiles, making it one of the most intense bombardments in recent months.
All four fatalities occurred in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old girl, after repeated waves of drones and missiles struck the capital.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Igor Klymenko, reported that around 100 civilian sites were damaged nationwide, among them a bakery, an automobile rubber factory, apartment blocks, and Kyiv’s Institute of Cardiology, where a nurse and a patient were killed.
Sirens first sounded in the city at 22:00 GMT, followed by the rumble of anti-aircraft fire and intermittent explosions. Residents were urged via the national alert app to take shelter as the scale of the attack became clear.
Other regions hit included Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Odesa. In Zaporizhzhia, 34 people were injured, including three children, while a 59-year-old man was reported dead in Sumy.
Zelenskyy vowed that Ukraine would “strike back” to force Russia towards diplomacy and called for a firm response from Europe and the United States.
He said the assault, coinciding with the close of the UN General Assembly, revealed Moscow’s true intentions. Russia claimed it had targeted military facilities and industrial sites supporting Ukraine’s armed forces.
The attack reverberated beyond Ukraine’s borders. Polish jets were scrambled as strikes approached western Ukraine, amid heightened NATO vigilance following recent airspace breaches by Russian drones.
Denmark confirmed sightings of drones over military locations for a second consecutive night, prompting NATO to strengthen its Baltic Sea mission with additional surveillance and an air defence frigate.
Moscow denied involvement in the drone incidents and insisted it has no plans to attack EU or NATO members, but warned of a “decisive response” to any perceived aggression.
Zelenskyy endorsed US President Donald Trump’s recent warning of harsher sanctions on Russia and backed calls for Europe to curb imports of Russian oil and gas.
Trump has also suggested NATO should shoot down Russian aircraft violating allied airspace and has expressed new confidence that Ukraine can reclaim its occupied territories as the Russian economy falters.
