Russia launched a massive overnight attack on Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least 22 people and wounding over 100, authorities said. The assault involved hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles targeting cities including Kyiv and Dnipro.
Details of the Attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported that Russia fired 73 missiles and more than 600 drones in the attack. He urged Washington to send additional Patriot missile interceptors to replenish Kyiv's dwindling supplies. "This was a large-scale attack and an absolutely clear statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue," Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
The strikes followed Russian warnings of "systematic" attacks on the capital after a drone attack on a dormitory in Ukraine's Russian-held region of Luhansk last month. Kyiv denies targeting the dormitory. This was the third heavy assault on Kyiv in under a month, but Russia has been relentlessly attacking Ukrainian cities since its invasion in 2022.
Casualties and Damage
In Kyiv, officials said six people were killed and over 80 wounded. Photographs showed large explosions and smoke billowing over high-rise buildings. "We couldn't understand what was happening - some kind of apocalypse?" said Olha Mudra, her face and clothes covered in dust, at the site of one strike, accompanied by her six-year-old daughter Natalia.
In the southeastern city of Dnipro, 16 people were killed overnight, including two young boys, local officials said. Russia attacked the city again later on Tuesday, injuring at least two more people. At least nine high-rise buildings, a kindergarten, a clinic, offices, and administrative buildings were damaged in Kyiv, and the attack temporarily cut power to 140,000 residents, power company DTEK said. More than 40,000 took shelter in the Kyiv subway system, the biggest number in recent years, carrying pets, belongings, and mattresses.
Military Response
Ukraine's Air Force said the attack included 33 hard-to-shoot-down ballistic missiles and eight Zircon hypersonic missiles, which appeared to be the largest number of such missiles used at once during the war. The Zircon has a range of 1,000 km (625 miles) and travels at nine times the speed of sound. Ukrainian Air Force units shot down or neutralised 40 missiles and 602 drones, but no Zircon was listed among them.
Russia's defence ministry said it had carried out a "massive strike" on defence industry facilities using high-precision long-range weapons, and that its strikes had hit 10 military production facilities in Kyiv. In Ukraine's northeastern region of Kharkiv, a child was among 14 people injured in the attacks, officials said. NATO member Poland scrambled military jets to secure its airspace after the Russian strikes.
Political Reactions
The Kremlin said the war had entered "a new paradigm" after what it called "inhumane acts of terror" by Ukraine's military against civilians, echoing accusations Kyiv has made against Russian forces. Moscow warned last week of systematic strikes and urged foreigners to leave Kyiv. Zelenskiy sent a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress, asking for air defence systems, but as of Monday, officials said he had not received a response.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha urged partners to take "concrete steps" to help Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia, appealing for tougher sanctions and more military support. "Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this. What we can change is Russia's ability to continue terror," he said on X.
The U.S. has been Ukraine's main foreign supplier of weapons, but Kyiv has also been purchasing Patriot missiles through a NATO initiative, financed by its European allies. Moscow's war in Ukraine has killed tens of thousands, forced much of the population out of their homes, and devastated cities. Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine. Ukraine has also hit civilian targets during attacks on Russia or Russian-occupied areas, though on a much smaller scale. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
Other Developments
Russian regions also came under attack. The Ilsky oil refinery in the southern Krasnodar region caught fire after a drone attack, local authorities said. Ukraine's military confirmed the strike. In Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, an 11-year-old boy was injured after a Ukrainian drone hit a home. Russia downed 148 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russian news agencies said, citing the defence ministry.
